Waiting To Breathe
by dreAmer399
Summary: Delusional Boyfriends, Heart-Breaking Crushes, and Potions Class! Sounds like Katie Bell and Oliver Wood have gotten trapped in an unfortunate soap opera style year at Hogwarts! Hop along as they try and battle through the perils of being a teenager.
1. A Sort Of Happy Return

**Hey there! Thanks for taking the time to click on my story and possibly read this little introduction. Here are some background details before you go on. The story takes place in "Prisoner of Azkaban" with Oliver in his 7****th**** year and Katie in her 4****th****. I tried to remain faithful to what happened in book 3 when I wrote this. So yes, dementors and Sirius Black are lurking around. =]**

**I think I've taken up enough space, so enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or some of the plot events. They belong to the wonderful J.K. Rowling.**

~*~*~*~

'_I just want to look into the windows of your soul and get lost in you'_

_Lyrics from Symphony in Peril's 'Waiting To Breathe'_

Katie loathed the first day of school. She hated how early you had to get up so that you wouldn't miss the train. She hated how busy King's Cross Station was. Most of all, she hated how her birthday was just a week after the cutoff date. If Katie had only been born a week earlier, then she could have been with all of her friends wondering about which O.W.L.'s she would have to take and how difficult they would be. But no, she had to be stuck a whole year behind them.

"Come on Kate!" Mr. Bell was using the luggage cart to push her towards the train, "Hurry up or we'll miss the train."

"Dad, I told you to call me Katie. How come you don't?" She had never understood why he never called her Katie. Kate was an old lady name.

"Because," Mr. Bell was squinting down the platform to where the trunks were loaded, "That is the name we put on your birth certificate and that is what I am going to call you."

Katie just sighed. She knew she wasn't going to win; this was a losing battle.

They had finally made it to the luggage compartment and with her trunk successfully loaded, Katie turned to give her dad a hug.

"I'm going to miss you Kate,"

"I'm gonna miss you too," Even though they disagreed a lot, Katie loved her dad. She would miss waking up in their house to her dad whistling old wizard rock songs. It made her remember the good times when her parents were still together. Katie's muggle mom had divorced her dad when Katie was ten. Her mother's memory had been addled so that she didn't remember anything about the wizarding world. It was hard for Katie to stay in touch with her mother because muggle post was so slow, but she tried.

"Well I suppose I'll see you at Christmas Break," Mr. Bell began tearing up, "Don't forget to mail me once a month, it's free on Saturdays!" Katie started blushing. Her dad worked for a small company that made house and garden potions. It didn't pay much and was owned by Marcus Flint's father. She had been urging her dad to apply for a job at the Ministry for the past few months. Katie was sick of having to act cordial to the captain of the Slytherin quidditch team.

"I will," Katie gave him a small wave and boarded the train. _Oh great, _she thought as she began to make her way down the cramped hallways. Looking for her friends was going to be a living nightmare. Katie thought she was going to have to sit with a bunch of Hufflepuff second years when she spotted two very familiar heads of red hair.

"Fred! George!" Katie had never been so glad to see them before in her life.

"Are these new friends that you've made?" Fred was gesturing to the second years.

"Gosh Katie, I'm hurt," George was pretending to have been stabbed in the heart.

"Oh shut it you two," rolling her eyes, she tried to push her way past them, "Have you found a compartment I can join?"

"Course we have," George watched her stumble over an empty Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean box, "But you're going the wrong way."

"What do you mean?" Katie was pointing down the corridor, "You came from this way."

"That was to get snacks, DumbBell," Fred said, laughing as he put his arm around her shoulder and led her away.

"I told you to never call me that," she said, scowling at the awful nickname they had given her last year.

"Aw but it has such a nice _ring_ to it," said George.

"Just lead me to my seat," Katie couldn't wait to sit down with her much more mature friends, Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet.

"Fine, your highness," Fred and George opened the doors and bowed, "Here it is."

Sitting inside the compartment was Angelina flipping through a copy of _Witch Weekly. _She looked like she was concentrating hard on the article she was reading. On the opposite side was Alicia who was being explained something by her boyfriend, Lee Jordan.

"And whoever gets the ball through the net- oh hi Katie," Lee had turned around to face her, "How's life been?"

"Pretty good," Katie said sitting down next to him, "When you're not being teased and hounded by them." She gestured over to Fred and George.

"What's wrong with you?" Angelina said, as George sat down next to her and Fred next to him, "She's been here five minutes and is already sick of you."

"We weren't being that horrible, were we Katie?" George asked.

"I would have thought that since today is my birthday, you would have been a little nicer to me," Katie said pretending to be sad and innocent.

"Oh Katie, I'm glad you reminded me," Alicia was digging around in her bag, "I wasn't sure if your birthday was today or tomorrow but I got you this anyway."

"Ahem!"

"Sorry Angelina, _we_ got this for you," Alicia handed Katie a box wrapped in pretty blue paper. Ripping it off, Katie saw that it contained a book called _Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Wizards._ Laughing at the obnoxious pink cover, Katie began flipping through the pages. They were covered in dazzling hearts and loopy handwriting. She couldn't believe they had gotten her this.

"Wow, uh, thanks I guess," Katie had to sneeze because the book was emitting floral perfume.

"We thought this would give you a head start on the boys," Angelina was smiling as she planted a kiss on George's cheek. Lee was making smooching sounds, while George kissed her on her forehead.

"Hang on now," Fred was putting up his hands, "I don't know if I much approve of our little Katie dating."

"Excuse me," Katie felt like putting her hands on her hips, "I don't need your approval of anyone, I'm just as old as you are. Plus you aren't my dad."

"So?"

"So you can't tell me when I can start dating," Katie gave him a smirk.

"You listen to me now young lady…" Alicia was now laughing at Fred who had begun to act like Katie's dad.

"Hey, I'm not interrupting anything am I?" Oliver Wood had just poked his head into their compartment.

"Hey Oliver," Katie gave him a big smile. Their friendship had begun almost immediately after Katie had joined the quidditch team in her second year. Unfortunately, Katie also harbored a secret crush on him but never told anyone about it. She was worried they would laugh at her and say that she was too young for him. She thought she saw signs of him liking her last year, but soon brushed those off as him just acting like an older brother. She pushed all of her thoughts of liking him way back, so that they almost disappeared. But seeing him now, looking at her with that wonderful smile, made her want to read every fail-safe charm in her book.

"Hi Kates," Oliver was really happy to see her. They were pretty good friends on and off the quidditch pitch. Last year Oliver had a crush on her but was worried that he was too old for her. He had tried to forget about liking Katie all summer and instead focused on new quidditch plays. But seeing her now all those feelings came rushing back.

"Ollie, what brings you to our humble abode?" George asked, as he tried to put his feet on the opposite seat. His attempt was foiled by Lee who just shoved them off.

"Well I came here to give Katie her-"

"Oliver, Captain our dear old Quidditch Captain, please give me your honest opinion," Fred was stroking his chin as if he had a long beard, "Do you believe that Katie, our Katie right here, is old enough to be dating?"

Oliver turned a delicate shade of pink. He wondered frantically why Fred would be asking this question. _Does she like someone? Is she dating somebody already?!_ While Oliver was having a mental freak-out, Katie gave Fred a well-deserved kick in the shins.

"Let's get out of here," Katie had gotten up from her seat, nudged Oliver out in the hallway and shut the door behind them.

"What was that all about?" Though he was dreading the answer, curiosity got the best of him.

"Oh Angelina and Alicia gave me this dating book and Fred was acting like an idiot about it," Katie rolled her eyes and leaned back on the wall.

"Oh," Oliver wasn't sure what to say to that. _At least she doesn't have a boyfriend, _he thought.

"Yeah it's a stupid book, I'm probably just going to get rid of it," Katie thought that was a little harsh considering it came from her two best friends, but she didn't want Oliver to think that she was going to actually use the thing.

"You aren't planning on using it then?" said Oliver, giving her a wary look.

"It's not like I have anyone to use it on," she said.

"Going to study and play quidditch all year then, huh?"

"That's the Oliver Wood lifestyle isn't it?" Katie laughed, "Are you going to give me any pointers?"

"Hey! I'm not that boring," Oliver pretended to look hurt at her comment, "I think I'm going to go return your present now." He started to walk down the hallway.

"Wait, you got me a present?" Katie then noticed that he had been holding a silver bag in his right hand.

"Of course I got you a present, it's your birthday," He began waving the bag in front of her face, "Go on take it, it won't bite."

Taking the bag, she opened it and pulled out what looked like gloves. Upon closer inspection, she saw that it was actually new chaser gloves.

"You told me how your old ones had holes in them," Oliver said, "So I figured the least I could do as your friend and quidditch captain, is get you new ones."

"Thank you so much," Katie gave Oliver a quick hug. She had been saving up all summer to buy new gloves; she couldn't wait to tell her dad about these ones.

Out of nowhere, Katie began feeling the train slow down. Oliver must have sensed it too because he started looking out the windows.

"We can't be at Hogwarts yet," he said, as he tried to wipe away the mist on the windows. All of a sudden something large and black glided past the window. A sickening chill went through Katie. She started feeling like she did when her parents were going through their divorce. Sliding down the wall to sit on the floor, she started hearing her parents' voices. Katie shut her eyes and tried to cover her ears to drown out the shouting, but it just kept getting louder and louder.

"Katie!"Opening her eyes she saw Oliver kneeling down across from her. His dark brown eyes were filled with worry. "Are you alright?"

"I heard my parents yelling at each other," she started to nervously pull her hair into a ponytail, "It was so real."

"It's okay," Oliver reached out and held her. _Why is she so cold?_

"What was that?" He was so warm; Katie didn't want to leave his arms.

"Dementors, I think," He readjusted himself so that his back was against the wall too, "They must be here searching for Sirius Black."

"Hey you guys okay?" Lee had poked his head out the compartment.

"We're fine now," Oliver nodded towards Katie, "It affected her a little more though."

"Yeah same with Alicia," Katie noticed Lee looked the same way Oliver had, "She said she heard her baby sister, but she's been gone for two years-"

"It's the Dementors," Oliver explained.

"What are they here for?" Lee had heard about the ghost-like things that guarded the wizarding prison.

"I'm guessing they're looking for Black, the Daily Prophet says he's looking for Harry,"

"Poor kid," said Katie. She couldn't imagine how he must have been affected by the Dementors.

"Yeah, I'll see you guys later," Lee was going to offer to let them back in, but they looked content where they were.

"Are you okay?" Oliver was trying to read her face, but her sloppy ponytail had pushed the hair back into her face.

"I think so," she brushed the loose hairs back into place, "I guess having a boring life pays off sometimes."

Oliver couldn't help but smile at this. Katie making a joke had to be a good thing.

"I suppose it does," he said.

The train began slowing down again. Katie gripped his arm like a steel trap.

"We're at Hogwarts this time," Oliver gently removed her hand and helped her up. _This is going to be an interesting year, _he thought.

~*~*~*~

**Now I don't believe in begging for reviews (most of the time) but if you want to click that little button down there and tell me your thoughts….**

**Go for it**


	2. New Routines, Same Frustrations

**Hello again, I just wanted to take up a line to thank everyone who reviewed so far. You guys made my day. (Plus you completely rock =P)**

**F.Y.I.-I plan on updating about once a week. I don't like keeping people waiting too long. **

**Well, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Thank you J.K. Rowling for creating the awesome world that people everywhere like to write about.**

~*~*~*~

_'Cause everything you do and words you say, You know that it all takes my breath away'_

_Lyrics from Boys Like Girls 'Two Is Better Than One'_

The next few days at Hogwarts went by without any resemblance of what happened on the train. It was like a distant nightmare that Katie tried vigorously to forget. Oliver had been checking up on her every so often, asking to make sure she was okay and if she needed anything. She could see why she had fallen for him in the first place. _Give it up Bell; he doesn't like you like that. _Katie knew that was the truth and as she was walking out of her Divination classroom, she kept repeating it in her head. Her thoughts were disrupted as she ran into a student, her book and papers dropped right on her foot.

"Katie," she looked up to see Miles Bletchley, a Slytherin fourth year who played keeper on his house team. He had been popping up everywhere ever since they had shared Herbology and Transfiguration last year. Miles was like a fly that she had to keep swatting away. "It's good to see you again."

"Yeah, a real pleasure," Stuffing the last piece of parchment into her book, she made a move to get around him.

"How was your summer?" Miles was now following her down the spiral staircase.

"It was fine," Katie rolled her eyes. She cursed how far up the North Tower Divination was.

"Mine was fantastic! Me and my uncle, he's one of the undersecretaries to the minister, did you know that? Anyway, we went on a trip…" Katie had started to tune him out, she really didn't care about Miles's uncle or where he went. _Only a few more corridors to Charms, you can do this. _

"Course I met loads of girls over there, but none of them really caught my interest. I have my eye on someone else this year," Miles was looking over at Katie to see what her reaction was to this. She seemed like she was concentrating hard on something.

"Well it was nice talking to you, but here's my class," Katie gave him a smile and tried to open the door, but noticed it was locked. "What the-"

"Your class got moved to the library, I can take you there," Miles gave her a hopeful look.

"I can handle it," Katie hurriedly backed away from him. Glad to finally be free of Miles, she almost skipped down to the library.

"What are you so happy about Bell?" Marcus Flint was leaning against one of the stone pillars.

Sighing, Katie flashed him the fakest smile she had, "Oh nothing, I just got really good marks on a test."

Scoffing, he moved closer to her, "It's only been a few days into term; you can't have had any tests."

"What do you care?" She really didn't have time to entertain Marcus, at this rate she might as well blow off Charms.

"I like taking interests in my father's employees. You do know that your dad's review is coming up?"

"He's good at his job, I'm not worried about him," It was actually just the opposite. Katie knew that her father had a slight disadvantage in the wizarding world. Her dad was a muggle-born, which meant that people either felt sorry for him or thought he couldn't do magic well.

"Aren't you brave," Katie couldn't stand being in his presence any longer.

"Don't you have a class to be at?" She asked.

"I have a free period now, but I believe you have a class," He laughed at the look on her face. She had obviously forgotten that she had somewhere to be. Katie pushed past him and began running down the hall.

"Oh Katie," He couldn't help but taunt her one last time, "Give Wood my regards!"He knew that Katie liked that smarmy, quidditch-obsessed captain. At any chance he got, he would bring Wood up just to see her cheeks go pink. Unfortunately for him, he could never quite figure out if Wood liked Katie back. Marcus had tried every possible way to try make Wood's life hell. _If only he liked her, then we could have some fun. _

Katie could feel every student's eyes on her as she entered the library. Looking down at the floor, she quickly made her way to a table in the back.

"You're fifteen minutes late, Miss Bell," squeaked Professor Fliltwick, "I believe that's fifteen points from Gryffindor. Now if you please, we are researching the proper wand technique for a Summoning Charm."

Grumbling, she made her way into the bookshelves. _Stupid Slytherins, _she thought.

~*~*~*~

The rest of the day went by so slowly, Katie could hardly stand it. All she wanted to do was sit in one of the comfy armchairs in the Gryffindor common room. So when her final class was over, she raced upstairs to nab her seat. It was common knowledge that the seats by the fire always filled up first. After pushing her way past a bunch of first years, Katie saw Angelina, Fred, George and Alicia all sitting by the fire. Alicia saw her first and motioned for Katie to take her seat, while she moved onto the couch next to Fred. George and Angelina were being all cute by sitting in the same armchair.

"Thanks for saving me a seat, I've been thinking about this all day," Katie said, as she plopped down into the seat.

"No problem," Alicia reached down and grabbed a quill and some parchment, "Does anyone have any ink handy?"

"Here," Fred reached for his back and pulled out a small glass bottle.

"Thanks," Alicia took the bottle and began to furiously work on some sort of essay.

"So Katie," George was finally able to untangle himself from Angelina to notice she was there, "Anything interesting happen today?"

"Not unless you count talking to stupid Slytherins," Katie sunk deeper into the chair, and tried to put her feet on the coffee table but found that it was just too far away.

"Who was it?" George asked, pushing the table closer to her.

"Miles," she said. Katie didn't feel comfortable talking about her confrontation with Flint.

"He's _still_ sniffing around you?" Angelina asked, sporting a very stunned look.

"Yeah I guess," Katie gave a half-hearted shrug.

"Are you talking about Miles _Bletchley_, the Slytherin keeper?" Fred asked.

"That's the one," Katie said, nodding her head.

"He's an awful keeper, only stops the quaffle once in a game," George was now looking rather amused.

"D'you remember last year when he kept swerving to the opposite hoop that the quaffle was going to?" Fred was holding back laughter.

"I thought he was sick that game," Angelina had a very confused look on her face.

"What does it matter?" George asked, "The point is he's a crap keeper."

"You lot aren't talking about me are you?" Oliver had just come in through the portrait and was now making his way towards the rest of his team.

"You've caught us Wood," Fred had turned around to face him, "That's what we do in our free time, bad mouth you."

"Seriously?" Oliver stopped in his tracks, unsure whether to continue walking over.

"No you dolt," Alicia suddenly joined the conversation, while she wrapped up her essay, "We were talking about Miles Bletchley, the Slytherin keeper."

"Oh good," Oliver finished his last few meters to the fireplace, and sat down on the arm of Katie's chair, "Why were you talking about him?"

"He's still being delusional," Angelina said, getting up from the chair to stretch her legs.

"Delusional about what?" Oliver wasn't sure if he missed something or not. He knew that Miles was in Katie's year and played quidditch. That was about it.

"Katie," George said, as he suddenly pulled Angelina back down and onto his lap.

Oliver gave them a puzzled look. He still wasn't getting it.

"Oh for Godric's sake," Alicia threw her hands up into the air, "Miles is in love with Katie and doesn't know that she hates him."

"Don't say it like that," Katie didn't like the way it made her sound.

"It's the truth isn't it?" Fred was giving her a suspicious look.

"Well yeah-"

"Then what's wrong with how I said it?" Alicia was giving Katie the same look as Fred.

"Nothing," Katie didn't really _hate_ Miles; he was just annoying and clingy, "I just- never mind."

"You can't say something like that without giving-"

"Everyone please go to your dormitories!" Percy Weasley was standing in the middle of the common room.

"What for?" George asked, "It's not even ten-thirty."

"New school policy," Percy hated being undermined, "Everyone must be in their dormitories no later than ten o'clock."

Grumblings and complaints were heard throughout the room as students marched they way upstairs. George and Fred were looking particularly annoyed. Katie just shook her head and began making her way to the girls' dormitories.

"Katie wait," Oliver hadn't moved from his spot on the armchair.

"What is it?" She was curious to hear what he was about to say, Oliver was rarely up for breaking "school policies".

"How come you didn't tell me about Miles?" Oliver thought they were pretty good friends. Why would she hide something like Miles from him?

"I didn't think it was important," The actual reason was because Katie thought that Oliver wouldn't care. The dream in her mind was that Oliver would save her from Miles's annoyance and then ask her out, saying how much he loved her and how he wished he had done something sooner. The nightmare in her mind was Oliver saying that she should go out with Miles and stop wasting time with him. It was childish, but Katie still feared the possibility.

"Kates, anything you tell me is important," He was surprised that Katie thought she couldn't tell him something. Didn't she know how much he cared for her, how much he wished he had the courage to ask her out?

"Really?" She couldn't help but feel really dumb in that moment.

"Of course," Oliver smiled at her, "I want you to tell me everything; even if it's something small and stupid."

"You mean it?" Katie was having visions of them talking by the fireplace late into the night.

"I do, I care about you Katie. Don't you know that?" Oliver's face felt like it was on fire.

"I guess I just forgot," She gave him a small smile.

"Come here," He held out his arms to her and wrapped her in giant hug. It felt so right, having her in his arms like that.

Katie took mental pictures of everything that was happening. She wanted to remember how safe and comfortable she felt in his arms.

"Oi, you two! Off to your dormitories," Percy poked his head around the corner of the staircase.

Pulling away from Oliver felt like the hardest thing Katie had ever done. She felt a flash of anger towards Percy for being so obsessed with school rules. As she left to go up to her bed, she caught a few moments of dialogue between Oliver and Percy.

"You have the worst timing, you know?"

"Well if you just asked her out, like I did with Penelope, then you would have all the time to-"

"Shut up, Percy!"

"I'm just saying that-"

"I said shut up!"

All Katie could think about that night was Percy saying 'If you just asked her out…'


	3. Pep Talks and Put Downs

**Wow, thank you everyone for your support so far! It's amazing! =D**

**Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling, you're the bomb for making all this stuff up. Thanks!**

~*~*~*~

'_Why'd you have to wait? Where were you? Where were you? Just a little late. You found me, you found me'_

_Lyrics from The Fray's 'You Found Me'_

Oliver Wood liked Katie Bell. It was official. He couldn't deny it any longer. Ever since he saw her on the train, he couldn't stop thinking about her. Quidditch was only a ten minute distraction before he started thinking about her again. As Oliver walked down to breakfast that morning, he knew that he had indeed fallen for his youngest chaser. Thoughts of them sitting in the common room together made Oliver's head spin. But he knew that this was just a fantasy never to be fulfilled. Even if he did get the courage to ask her out, she would probably say no. She would say that he was too old and she valued their friendship more. _What if she said yes though? _His thoughts were suddenly disrupted as Fred and George saddled up to him in the hallway.

"So Oliver, I heard you stayed up past curfew last night-"

"With a dear friend of ours,"

"Whatever you heard is a lie," Oliver made a move to adjust his collar. The last thing he wanted was the Weasley twins to badger him about liking Katie.

"I don't think so, our source was very reliable," Fred said, as George nodded his head in agreement.

"You know you can't trust those portra-"

"Maybe it wasn't a portrait that told us," Fred and George had to almost run to keep up with Oliver's manic pace.

"Look whatever you heard, just drop it," Oliver started to turn down the corridor.

"We know you like Katie!" He stopped dead in his tracks. Frantically looking around to make sure no one else heard, Oliver shoved the twins into the nearest classroom.

"Gee Ollie, was it something we said?" George cracked a smile at the sight of Oliver's flustered face.

"How do you- Percy!" Oliver couldn't believe it; he never would have thought Percy would tell anyone.

"Way to go, detective," Fred stood in front of the doors, tempting Oliver to try and get past him.

"I can't believe he told you guys," Oliver had sunk down into one of the chairs in front of a desk. His hands were covering his face in embarrassment.

"I can't believe _you_ didn't tell us!" George grabbed the seat across from Oliver, "I thought we were best mates."

"Please," Oliver looked up from his hands, "If I told you I liked Katie, you guys would just laugh at me." He lowered his voice, "Every one would."

"What makes you say that?" Fred sat on the desk next to theirs.

"I'm too old for her!" Oliver thought that would have been obvious.

"So what?" Fred waved this off, "I know plenty of couples that have huge age gaps."

"It's different. What would happen when I graduate? She'd be here all by herself with loads of other guys." Oliver was picking at a loose piece of thread on his sweater, "It's not like I think she'd cheat on me, but I don't want to hold her back from anything."

"Don't you think you're already holding her back?" George asked.

"What d'you mean?"

"Well Ollie you might be blind, but we're not. She fancies you just as much as you fancy her-"

"And you not being a proper gentleman and asking her out, is making her hold back from stuff already," Fred and George smiled at each other. They thought that they had never sounded smarter in their whole lives.

"But-" For once Oliver was speechless. _Since when did Fred and George start making sense?_

"If you wait around much longer, she's gonna move on," George said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Well what- I mean how do I, uhm, exactly ask her out?" he couldn't believe he was asking the twins for dating advice, but their little pep talk had given him courage.

"Just do it in the locker room after practice on Thursday," Fred looked like it was the most obvious answer ever.

"Okay, I'll do it," Oliver was now more determined then ever to finally ask out Katie. He smiled at the twins before making his way out of the classroom.

"Hey Oliver, remember this next time you make us run laps!" Fred and George were laughing as they made their way out of the classroom and down to the Great Hall.

Unfortunately, they weren't the only ones who were laughing. When Marcus Flint had heard the twins shout, 'We know you like Katie!' He had only one option. As he listened to their entire conversation, a plan was forming in his head. Marcus was sure that this would definitely make Wood's life hell.

~*~*~*~

At breakfast, Katie couldn't help but notice what a great mood the guys were in. Oliver was positively beaming. She tried to find out what was causing him to act like this; but he only kept nodding and smiling. Fred interjected that Oliver was just excited about the upcoming quidditch season. Katie gave up at that point. It was obvious that there was some big secret that she wasn't allowed to know; but she knew that later on she could probably get the info from Angelina. George told her everything. Before they left to head out to their classes, Oliver told them for the hundredth time that they had a quidditch meeting on Thursday.

"Don't forget about it, it's very important," Oliver was looking right at Katie when he said this.

"I'll be there, get off my back," she gave him a small shove and headed out to her first class of the day: Potions. It was no doubt that every student hated this class, but Katie could find multiple reasons as to why she detested it. First of all, Snape was prejudiced against Gryffindors. Second, he always favored the Slytherins, no matter how bad their potion was. And last but not least, Katie had this class with Miles. She was trying to walk extra slow, hoping that a miracle would happen. Sadly, Katie reached the doors with no hope of escaping this lesson. Reaching her work table, she tossed her bag on the floor and sat dejectedly in her chair.

"Miss Bell," Snape was walking over to her, his black robes flitting between the tables.

"What?" She hated it when Snape talked to her.

"Don't say 'What?' in that ungrateful tone. Five points from Gryffindor," he said.

"That's absurd!" She couldn't believe how unfair he was being.

"Another five points for contradicting a teacher. Now if you don't mind, please move your stuff over to the table in the back left."

Katie peered around him to see Miles sitting there, waving her over excitedly. She was about to object, but decided to hold her tongue. It wasn't worth losing another five points.

"Going to be my partner for today, huh?" Miles had begun shifting his stuff to make room for her.

"I guess so," Katie couldn't believe her luck, or lack thereof.

"Today I want all of you to brew me a Strengthening Solution," Snape's instruction was met with rounds of "That's too advanced!" and "We can't do those!"

"You will all be O.W.L. students next year, I expect you to at least attempt this potion before next year," Snape's eyes roamed the room, daring any student to object. "Right then. Begin!"

Students began scrambling to get their ingredients. The faster they were done with the potion, the better.

"So Katie, I was wondering…" Miles hadn't moved since Snape had given his instructions.

Katie, on the other hand, was busily trying to find the right temperature to start boiling the cauldron.

"What Miles?" Her temper was a little high, _Why can't he get up off his lazy arse?!_

"Halloween's coming up, and there's a Hogsmeade trip on it," He started to pick at some of the ingredients Katie had laid out in front of them, "And I was wondering if you wanted to go with me?"

Katie started to feel her breakfast rise up in her throat. She couldn't believe that Miles was asking her out in _potion's class, _let alone at all.

"I don't think so," Katie was hurriedly trying to mix all of the ingredients in the cauldron. She didn't care if it was right or not. She just needed something to distract herself from what just happened.

"Why not?" Miles was giving her a strange look. It was a mixture of shock and disbelief. Apparently, this wasn't the answer he was expecting.

"I don't have to give you a reason," she said, the potion had turned a rotten green color.

"Is it because of Wood?"

"What?" Katie was surprised to hear Miles mention Oliver, "No I-"

"Miss Bell, I have never before in my life seen a worse Strengthening Solution then the one you have so wrongly produced. Detention in my office, Thursday." Snape tapped her cauldron and performed a Vanishing Spell.

"But, sir, I can't I have quidditch practice," Katie couldn't believe she was going to miss the first quidditch meeting of the year. Oliver was going to be furious.

"Poor Gryffindor, what will they do without their star chaser?" Snape's lip curled at this last statement and sauntered off to pester some other poor student.

Katie couldn't stand to be in his class any longer. She picked up her bag and left the classroom in a huff. The last sound she heard was Snape saying, "Ten points from Gryffindor for leaving the middle of a lesson."


	4. Right Place, Wrong Time

**Hope you enjoy the chapter!!**

**Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns… literally **

~*~*~*~

'_If time could stop, how could I make this more poetic? When there's nothing more pathetic to be said'_

_Lyrics from Amber Pacific's 'Poetically Pathetic'_

_Where the bloody hell is she?! _Oliver had been pacing the locker room for the past ten minutes. Practice had officially started fifteen minutes ago. Everyone was present except for Katie.

"Just give her more time, she'll be here," Angelina said, giving Oliver a reassuring glance.

"I hope so," There was a desperate tone in his voice that worried the Weasley twins. They knew that Oliver was planning on asking her out after practice; and if she never showed… Well they didn't want to think about that possibility.

"I'm so sorry I'm late," Katie panted, she looked as if she had run all the way from the school.

"Where were you?" Alicia gave her a look that screamed, _Are you crazy??_

"Snape gave me detention the other day and I-" She was struggling to sit down next to Angelina, "I had to run all the way down here." Everyone was giving her skeptical looks, "It's a bloody long way from the school!"

"Well," Oliver finally spoke from the front of the room, "At least you're here. Now on to this season-"

"What!" Fred and George both jumped out of their seats. Oliver looked slightly frightened at their outburst.

"That's all she gets? If it was us, we'd be out on the pitch running our ears off. We know you like-"

"Okay!" Oliver quickly interrupted George, "Katie can you please stay after practice?"

"Thank you, Capt'n," Fred said, sitting down next to George.

"Fine," Katie gave Fred and George a very nasty look. They responded by waving at her.

"Can I continue or does anyone else have anything to say?" Oliver started rubbing his temples.

Harry started to open his mouth, but was rendered speechless by Fred's hand. Oliver gave one last look around the room before he addressed them.

"This is our last chance-my last chance-to win…"

~*~*~*~

Katie wished that she could be walking with everyone else back up to the school. She was so tired from scrubbing out all the cauldrons by hand that she could barely keep her eyes open. Oliver didn't seem to notice her still sitting there and took to cleaning the board he had written on.

"You can go if you want," he said, motioning to door with his head.

"I thought you wanted me to stay after?" Katie wondered why she wasn't getting her head bitten off. Even though they were friends, Oliver had always put quidditch first. It never seemed to strain their relationship, just gave them something to laugh about later.

"That was just to please Fred and George," Oliver kept ducking around the blackboard, apparently looking for something.

"What are you looking for?"

"Eraser… Ah!" Oliver banged his head on the underside of the board. She had to cover her mouth to stop from laughing.

"Are you a wizard or what?" Katie had moved benches so that she was sitting next to Oliver. He was rubbing his head and looking at her with confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"Accio eraser!" A small black square had shot out from a cabinet and into her hand.

"Oh right, I guess I forgot that," He got really embarrassed that he couldn't remember that simple retrieval spell.

"You must have hit your head harder than I thought," Oliver couldn't help but notice how pretty she looked in the lamplight. Her green eyes sparkled with laughter as she got up to erase the board.

"Maybe," he laughed himself. Everything got real quiet after that, the only sound was Katie erasing the board. "So uhm, why did you get detention?"

"It was so stupid!" Katie swiped the board extra hard when she said that, "Snape said that I made the worst Strengthening Solution he'd ever seen."

"Don't you do those in fifth year?"

"Yeah but he thought it would be good practice. Of course if Miles wasn't being such a prat, I probably could have done the potion really well." She tossed the eraser onto the table and sat back down next to Oliver. She wiped the remaining chalk dust on her pants.

"What was Miles doing there?" Oliver didn't like the thought of Miles being anywhere near Katie.

"He was my partner for the day," Katie could see Oliver's distaste for him almost immediately. It made her feel better.

"Sorry to hear about that,"

"Wait till you hear what he did," Katie didn't know what made her tell Oliver that Miles had asked her out. She just felt so comfortable with him.

"… and he just plain asked me out. _In potion's class!_" Katie couldn't help but stress that last part. It just seemed so silly to her that anyone would ask someone out in that class.

"He asked you out?" Oliver couldn't help but hear George's words ring in his head, _"If you wait around much longer, she's gonna move on."_

"Yep," she said nodding her head.

"Did you, I mean, are you going out with him?" Oliver could barely choke out his question.

Katie turned her head around and just stared at him. _Does he really think I'd agree to go out with that arrogant prat?!_

"Of course I didn't, silly," Oliver's whole body instantly relaxed, "I'd never go out with him, you couldn't even pay me to do it."

It took all of his will power not to pick her up off her feet right there and then. He couldn't believe he was that close to losing her. Oliver wanted so badly to ask her out, but knew that it wasn't the right time yet. He didn't want to ask her out on the same day Miles had asked her. Oliver promised himself he would do it soon though, _Who knows who else has their eyes on Katie. _

"Think we should head back?" Katie asked, grabbing her bag, "Fred and George will think I've had a very good punishment."

"Sure," Oliver flashed her the smile he saved only for her.

~*~*~*~

They were only a few corridors away from the Gryffindor common room, when Katie suddenly remembered that she left her Transfiguration essay in class. She told Oliver that he could go on, but he insisted that he'd come too. It was almost past curfew and he knew a few passageways that would make their trip quicker.

"Why'd you forget your essay?" He whispered as they passed a giant tapestry that kept singing Christmas carols.

"I don't know, I had a lot of things on my mind," Katie cringed as the tapestry sang a very high note. She began thinking this was a really bad idea. She hadn't even gotten that far on the essay. She could start over…

"We're here, go go!" Oliver pushed her towards the Transfiguration classroom. Katie nervously opened the door. She was searching for any signs of Professor McGonagall. Finally making sure the coast was clear, she dashed to her desk and found her essay. Stuffing it into her pockets, she ran back out into the hallway and right into Oliver.

"Why are you-"

"Shhhh!" Oliver clamped his hand over her mouth. He had heard footsteps in the passageway they had come from. Knowing that it could possibly be Filch or Snape, he quickly devised a plan to get them safely to the common room. It involved going through the dungeons, but it was the only way. Taking Katie's hand, he pulled her down the hallway.

Katie's heart could be heard in her ears, as they were running through the dungeons. Though she had complete faith that Oliver knew what he was doing, she couldn't help but feel scared. She had never been down here before at nighttime and to tell the truth, it was really creepy. Long, dark shadows were cast on the floors from the torches on the walls. Katie could barely see where they were going, but when Oliver slowed down she was able to keep from running into him… again.

"It's only one more flight of stairs and then we've made it," He sounded like he was explaining a very complex quidditch play. Peering around the corner to make sure no one was there, he took a cautious step forward.

"What are you doing out so late Wood?" Without hesitating, Oliver pushed Katie behind a column. She didn't have to be involved in this.

"I could ask you the same thing Flint," Katie's breathing almost stopped. She thought she had recognized the voice, but wasn't certain until now. If she craned her neck, she could almost make out the two captains. Even though it was dark out, the torches cast enough light that she could make out who was who. Katie could even see the malevolent look on Marcus's face.

"Why are you out here?" Marcus tried to circle him, but Oliver quickly blocked his path. If he got past Oliver, Katie would be in plain sight.

"I don't have to answer to you," Oliver had never disliked someone this much before. It was more than just a rivalry between two captains; this was a deep-rooted hatred that went far back.

Marcus laughed and moved closer, so that he was inches away from Oliver's face.

"You don't scare me," He pushed Oliver hard on the shoulder, "You can't."

Katie knew Oliver wasn't going to take that. She had to intervene quickly or a fight was going to break out.

"Leave him alone," Katie had stepped out from behind the column and into the light. For a moment the, look on their faces were the same. Then Oliver's turned to one of panic, while Marcus's turned into one of pleasure. She quickly yanked on Oliver's sleeve and began pulling him away from Marcus.

"I'm surprised in you Bell," Marcus was calling after the retreating figures, "I didn't know your father's job meant so little to you."

Katie tried everything in her power not to turn around and punch him right in the face. Instead she focused on what Oliver had told her about quidditch and winning the cup. _Quidditch, the cup, quidditch, Marcus, the cup, Marcus, Quiddit-Marcus that no-good, evil…_

"You should have let me at him," Oliver's voice was so deep that she had a hard time understanding what he was saying.

"It wouldn't solve anything," She knew that what happened back there would come back to get her. But right now, all she focused on was getting Oliver locked up in the dormitory.

"Still, it would've made us feel better," He was completely serious. He would take on Marcus Flint any time, any day. Sure he'd probably get the living snot beat out of him, but Oliver could probably get a few good punches in.

"Yeah, I suppose," Finally reaching the Fat Lady, Katie said the password and ushered him in first. She wouldn't let him out of her sight, until she knew he was in bed. Katie knew that he probably would need some help getting to sleep and _staying _asleep. She quickly got out her wand and whispered a sleeping spell at his back. When he turned around, she quickly stuffed her wand back into her robes and pretended to look out the window. Seeing Oliver yawn out of the corner of her eye told her that the charm worked. "Come on; let's get you up to bed."

"Okay," He started heading towards the girls' dormitories.

"Woah there," She put her hands on his shoulders and guided him towards the boys' dormitories.

"You-" Oliver was interrupted by another yawn, "You can't come up here."

"It's fine, I have permission," He seemed to have taken this as truth and continued to walk upstairs. Walking down the small hallway, they had made it to the seventh year bedroom. Katie opened the door and nudged him inside. She could already hear Percy's loud snoring on his side of the room. It was obvious which bed was Oliver's, considering the fact that there was only two Gryffindor seventh years. They were the smallest class in two centuries.

"Thanks Kates," He all but collapsed onto his bed, shoes still on his feet. Katie had decided to take them off for him. It was the least she could do since it was her fault that Marcus had caught them in the hallway.

"Goodnight Oliver," She glanced up at his face. Sleepy Oliver was so cute; he gave her a big smile and waved her off. Backing out the room she quietly shut the door and made her way to the girls' dormitories. Katie didn't need a sleeping spell to fall asleep, her eyes shut the moment her head hit the pillow.


	5. Sleeping Together Has Another Meaning

**It's been such a hectic time right now, but here you go!**

**P.S- Paramore's album 'Brand New Eyes' is ah-mazing, check it out!**

**Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling is my hero =P**

~*~*~*~

'_Shifting your weight, to throw off the pain, you can ignore it, but, only for so long'_

_Lyrics From Paramore's 'Careful'_

Friday's classes were so full of wand-waving and plant-tending, that when Katie finally sat down at dinner she could barely reach across the table to grab some food.

"I swear these classes are going to kill me," She said, finally getting the strength to reach out and take a biscuit.

"Just wait 'till fifth year," Lee nudged the butter over to Katie, "You'll think those classes were a piece of cake."

"Tell me about it," George and Angelina were finally joining their table, "We've lost three kids this term 'cause they couldn't handle the stress."

"Don't listen to them," Oliver was shaking his head back and forth, "Fifth year isn't that bad."

"I suppose everything is easy for Mr. N.E.W.T. over there," Fred was jabbing his fork in Oliver's direction. Oliver just rolled his eyes and went back to eating.

Fred's comment made Katie swallow hard. She kept forgetting that Oliver was in his seventh year. He would be _graduating_ at the end of the year. It was a sad thought that she would never see him bent over his playbook in the common room or even see him in the hallway.

"Katie, you okay?" Angelina gave her a concerned look.

"Yeah I'm fine, I think I'm gonna go to the library," Katie picked up her bag and quickly left her group of friends. She knew that she should have stayed behind and finished eating; but it was hard now that she had visions of an Oliver-free school.

"Katie Bell, the exact person I've been looking for," Marcus Flint was now walking beside her.

"What are you stalking me?" She couldn't believe that she had run into him so many times. _I must have the luck of a toad._

"No, but I do have something I need to discuss with you," He gave her a strange smile. Katie didn't want to discuss anything with Marcus.

"Sorry I can't right now, I have to go study," She cut him off and started pulling the doors open to the library.

"See," Marcus had followed right behind her, "This isn't a conversation that can wait."

"What is it?" Katie quickly turned to face him. The sooner they got over with this "discussion" the better.

"Let's sit down," He led her over to a table in a secluded part of the library. Katie didn't like the fact that there wasn't an escape route open for her.

"What is it?" She asked for the second time.

"Don't be so hostile, I only want to talk," Marcus flashed her that same weird smile.

"So talk," She said.

"Well Katie, you and I have a mutual friend. I believe you know him."

"Oliver's not your friend," Katie figured he was going to bring up what happened last night.

"This isn't about Oliver, Kates," She flinched at that nickname. It sounded so wrong when Marcus said it. "I'm talking about Miles."

"What about him?" She was now thoroughly confused.

"Last night he told me about how he asked you out," Marcus was now leaning the chair back on two legs, "And how you so rudely shot him down."

"I don't have to-"

"Hang on now, I'm not finished," The chair was now back on four legs, while Marcus leaned closer to her, "Anyway I was thinking about how I could help poor Miles in his situation, when I thought about your father."

"My father?" Katie didn't like the way this conversation was going.

"Yes, Katie, your father. You do like him, don't you? I mean, it's nice that he's got a job and a way to provide for you."

"I don't understand," She started to scoot her seat back a few inches.

"Well its pretty simple Katie, go out with Miles or your father loses his job," He couldn't help but grin at the way her face drained of color.

"No, you don't mean it," She started to get up from her chair, when Marcus grabbed her arm.

"Why wouldn't I mean it, have I ever lied to you before?"

"Why would you want this?" Katie struggled against his grip, "What're you getting out of it?"

"You know, I suppose you were right; this actually does have to do with Wood. You see, I like making people's lives miserable, and Wood has a special place for that. And having you go out with Miles, well… that just takes the cake."

"We're friends, that's it," Katie couldn't believe she was getting cornered into this. She hated Marcus more than anyone in the entire world.

"Not the way I've seen it. Now I'm going to tell Miles to give you another chance. And when he asks you out, you better say yes. Or else, your family's going to find itself in a very sticky spot." With that he let go of Katie's arm, and pushed his way past her out of the alcove they were in."Oh and Katie, don't go telling this to all your friends. I'll find out and by then, telling them won't have made a difference."

Katie suddenly felt very dizzy; she thought she was going to be sick. Realizing that the queasy feeling in her stomach was just unbridled rage; she sat back down in the chair. _How could he bleeding do this? This kind of stuff only happens in movies!_

She took a few deep breaths to calm down. A part of her believed Marcus was a liar and a slimy git. But another part was worried that he was serious. Either way, Katie couldn't tell her friends. Especially not Oliver. She'd handle it by herself. She had to.

~*~*~*~

"So did you do it?" Fred and George had been eagerly waiting to hear about what happened Thursday night.

"No, I didn't," Oliver was recalling everything that had happened. It was a pretty eventful night, from hearing about Miles to running into Flint.

"Why the bloody hell not?" George waved his hand dramatically, "I thought that the pep talk helped."

"It did, I just… It wasn't the right moment," Oliver wasn't sure if he should tell them about Miles asking her out.

"At this rate, you're going to remain single until you're forty," Fred was rubbing his temples in an act of frustration.

"Now that's not fair," Oliver rounded on Fred, "When's the last time you had a girlfriend?"

"Don't shift the spotlight on me, mate. We're focusing on you," Fred got a little pink on the tips of his ears at Oliver's comment.

"I don't see why though, you're boring as hell," George was the first to reach the Fat Lady so he gave her password and led the way in.

"Oi, cut it out! I am your captain you know, I'll gladly make you run laps at next practice," The twins had already made their way up to their dormitories by the time Oliver was done talking. Throwing his books down on the coffee table, he flopped down on the couch.

"Oof! Get off, get off," A pair of hands was quickly shoving Oliver back onto his feet.

"I'm really sorry. I didn't see anyone there and I- Katie?" He took in her curled up figure and began wondering how he could have possibly missed her.

"It's fine, but I think you owe me something," She started rubbing her arm like it was in pain, "Perhaps in the way of finishing my Transfiguration essay?"

"I suppose it's the least I can do for nearly crushing you," Sitting down, next to her this time, he rummaged in his bag for a moment before coming up with a quill and some ink, "Where do I start?"

"Here," She pointed at the piece of parchment lying on the table. It was covered with scratched out words and ink blots.

"Finish your essay? You've barely started!" Oliver was now examining the piece of paper with a shocked expression.

"Hey, you nearly broke my arm. The arm I use as a _Chaser_ I might add," Giving him a satisfying smile, she used her head and pushed his right arm down to the piece of paper.

Oliver grumbled a "Fine" and began working on her essay. It was pretty simple stuff; he couldn't see why she was having trouble with it. Katie had always gotten pretty good marks on everything and studied quite a bit. Taking a break at half a page, he turned to see her staring into the fireplace.

"How come you didn't finish this?" He tried to say it in a non-judgmental way. Oliver was actually curious.

"I've had a lot of things on my mind lately," Katie couldn't stop thinking about what Marcus had said to her earlier that day.

"Like what?" He wanted to remain truthful about his statement before.

"My dad mostly," She tried to step around the subject of her actually problems.

"Is he alright?"

"Yeah but… I just worry about him sometimes," Katie readjusted herself so that her feet were now under the pillows at the end of the couch instead of on the floor. She didn't want to get _too _close to Oliver, but it was hard when she was lying like that. Carefully, she set her head on his shoulder; waiting for him to shift away. Thankfully he didn't and she remained like that, listening to the soft scratching of quill on parchment.

Finally finished with Katie's essay, he looked at the clock in the room. It said 11:48. It was way past the time that they were supposed to be in their dormitories and he couldn't help but wonder why Percy wasn't ushering them up there now. Looking over to Katie, he could see that she was sound asleep on his shoulder. He didn't want to wake her up, because she looked so peaceful. Her lips were slightly pouted, like she was thinking about something hard. Oliver smiled at this and couldn't help but want to kiss her just then. Sighing, he went against his heart and lightly shook her.

"Mhmm" She let out a groan and closed her eyes even tighter.

"Come on Kates, you have to go up to bed," He gave her one more nudge.

"I don't wanna go, I'm too comfy," She snuggled even deeper into his sweater. He could feel her breath on his arm.

"Sorry but you have to," Oliver would have gladly stayed there with her, but knew that he couldn't. It was almost midnight and they had to go to their dormitories.

"Just five more minutes, please?" He shook his head at her request.

"Fine, but only five minutes," Leaning back on the couch, he tried to get comfortable himself. After all, five minutes was a long time. He struggled to get his feet on the couch, and was only able to get one up there. Resting his head on the pillows at the end, he started thinking about the times he had at this school. Memories of Quidditch meets and Hogsmeade trips filled his head. Voices of the team bounced in his head as he recalled the first time he met the Weasley twins. Last, but not least, he thought of the first time he met Katie. That left a smile on his lips, as he drifted off to sleep.


	6. Boys Are Dumb, Right?

**Hey there. I'm sorry I wasn't able to update last week, I wasn't able to get my hands on a computer. **

**=(**

**But, that doesn't mean I haven't been working hard on more chapters!! **

**=]**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter**

~*~*~*~

'_Tell me where our time went, and if it was time well spent'_

_Lyrics From Paramore's 'Pressure'_

"Oh look how cute they are…"

"… So they're dating right?"

"Probably, why else would they be like that?"

Katie fidgeted at all the noise. _Why is the dorm so loud?_ She tried turning over to her side and instead hit the floor with a loud thud. Opening her eyes at once, she saw ten pairs of eyes staring at her. They all quickly looked away, but that didn't make her feel less embarrassed. _Oh no, I must have fallen asleep on the couch. I wonder what happened to-_

"Oliver!" Katie was now staring at her friend sprawled out on the same couch she had just been on. Knowing that everyone's eyes were back on her, she straightened up and began poking him awake.

"What's happening?" It took awhile for Oliver to get used to all the bright lights. He couldn't help but wonder why the shades were open. Blinking the last of the sleepiness out of his eyes, he stumbled upon a very concerned looking Katie Bell.

"Get up, get up," She was whispering frantically to him. He could feel her desperate tug on his arm. Struggling to sit up, Oliver finally looked around the room. Panic instantly took over. _Crap, crap! I must've dozed off._ "We have to get out of here."

Oliver didn't need to be told twice. He and Katie hurriedly made their way out of the common room. Whispers were already starting before they had even reached the stairs. They began walking down the corridor; an uncomfortable silence on their shoulders.

"Uhm, I'm really sorry about what happened back there," Oliver struggled to get his apology out. It was a very awkward thing to apologize for.

"No it's my fault, I kept you up with my essay," She tried to give him a reassuring smile, but just couldn't do it.

"Oh yeah, how's your arm?"

"Fine, I was just faking so I wouldn't have to finish it." Pausing in front of the entrance to the courtyard, she sat on the stone ledge. The cool autumn breeze felt good on her burning cheeks.

"I never knew you could be so deceitful, Bell," He said, leaning against the wall by the ledge.

"Like you're perfect," She said, scoffing at his comment.

"At least I never fell asleep on my Quidditch captain." Oliver was trying to make what happened into a laughable event.

"I'm not the only one guilty in this," Katie had gotten up from the bench and began walking outside. The grass was making sloshing sounds from where her shoes touched it, "You fell asleep with me."

"Your point being?" He followed right behind her, wanting to see where she was going with this.

"My point being," She turned around to face him, "You could have easily gotten up to go to your own bed; but instead you stayed with me. Now some people would say that meant something…" An instant memory of Marcus teasing her about Oliver rushed back. It made her pause for a moment. Thankfully Oliver wasn't looking at her in that moment or else he would have seen the glimmer of sadness in her eyes.

"Meant what?" Oliver knew what she was getting at. He had heard the people whispering when they left. Everyone who was in the common room was going to think they were dating now. Not that he had a real problem with that, he just wanted it to be true.

"You know what," She couldn't believe he could be this thick. Wasn't it obvious what she was getting at?

"Kates, they know we're friends. I mean if they had caught us kissing or something then it would have meant something like that," He started to trip up his words. In one point he tried to reassure her, but at the same time his heart was screaming to stop talking. Oliver was making himself sound like nothing had happened between them, when in reality it was the best night he had ever had.

"So that meant nothing to you?" Katie was trying to decipher what Oliver had just said. It sounded like what happened was an accident and that he didn't think anything more of it. She knew that it was ridiculous but for a fleeting moment, she had thought that he liked her. _Why else would he have stayed with me? _

"What? It meant-I mean," Oliver had been taken back by her question. He hadn't expected her to react like that. She sounded hurt and confused.

"Forget it," Katie was shaking her head back and forth, "It was a stupid mistake and it won't happen again." She forced herself to back away from him. Katie didn't know where she was going, but she knew that she couldn't hang around him any longer. Her heart felt like it had been ripped into a million pieces.

Oliver stood there watching her leave. He couldn't believe that in a matter of minutes he had ruined any chance he had at being with Katie. In an act of frustration, he kicked at some leaves that had fallen to the ground. Watching them fly up into the air didn't really make him feel any better. Oliver decided that there was only one thing to keep him from thinking about Katie. Without another thought, he headed to the Quidditch pitch.

~*~*~*~

Katie thought a walk down by the lake would help. People were already scattered about absorbing the last rays of sunshine before winter set in. Pulling her sweater closer around her shoulders, she decided to sit on short tree stump. The bark around its edges threatened to snag her clothes, but she didn't care. Oliver's words just kept echoing in her head.

_You knew it was impossible for him to like you_

So what? He was being so sweet last night…

_Doesn't mean anything to him. He doesn't care._

He does care. Why'd he stay then?

_Pity. He felt sorry for you. All he wants is friendship. Get it in your head._

No, I can't

_You don't have a choice, accept it._

"No!"

"Katie?" Two figures were now approaching her. Upon closer inspection, she saw that it was Angelina and Alicia. They were both bundled up, with matching Gryffindor scarves.

"Are you alright?" Alicia quickly closed the gap between them.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Katie tried shrugging it off. She hoped that hadn't heard about what happened in the common room. Though with this school, it's impossible to keep anything a secret.

"It's okay, you know," Angelina had finally caught up to them, "We heard about what happened… with Oliver." She had lowered her voice when she mentioned him.

"It was nothing," Stuffing her hands in her pockets, Katie made a move to leave. This topic had already been dissected enough.

"Don't go," Alicia had Katie's sleeve in her hand, "We want to know what's going on with you."

"Yeah," Agreed Angelina, "We haven't had a girl talk in forever."

"Fine," Katie shifted her feet around, "What do you want to know?"

They spent the next few minutes discussing what happened Friday night and most of the events leading up to it. They were shocked when she told them about running into Marcus Flint after hours. Katie, of course, had to slide over most of the details concerning Miles and Marcus's request. It wasn't too difficult though, because they were mostly interested in Oliver.

"So what did he say about it?" Angelina's eyes were wide with excitement. She had been speculating for months that the two friends secretly liked each other.

"He said it was an accident," Saying it so bluntly gave Katie's heart a giant tug.

"No, you must have heard him wrong," Alicia, like Angelina, also believed that Oliver and Katie were secretly in love with each other. She hoped for the day when they finally gave up the childish charade and admitted to their feelings.

"I didn't," Katie gave Alicia a pointed look. She hoped that she got the message that she wasn't making it up.

"But- you've like each other for months! Why'd he give up a perfect chance to ask you out?" Angelina couldn't believe how frustrating her captain was being.

"I never said I liked him!" The color in Katie's cheeks rose to an all time high.

"Please Kate, we're not stupid," Alicia rolled her eyes, "It's obvious that you both were meant for each other."

Katie sighed in defeat. She had always figured that they would be the first to find out. After all you can't keep something like this hidden from teenage girls.

"Doesn't matter, he doesn't like me like that," They had been circling the same point for the last five minutes.

"Boys are dumb. Do you remember how long it took George to ask me out?" Angelina asked.

"No,"

"Two years Katie. Two very long, very frustrating years," Angelina had put a reassuring arm around her best friend.

"He was probably just caught off guard," Alicia was beaming, "Give him some time and you'll see."

"Yeah well," Katie ducked out of Angelina's arm, "I won't hold my breath."

Though her friends were only trying to help, it didn't really work. Katie knew the truth, it was plain as day on his face. She hated to admit what she always knew was true. Oliver Wood, renowned Gryffindor captain and keeper would never, ever be hers. Those words were getting easier to swallow. Maybe if she said them enough, she would start believing them. When she reached the Great Hall, it was lunch time. Katie hadn't realized how hungry she actually was, until she smelled all the food. Drifting inside, most of the students were already gone. Grabbing an empty seat, she began to eat an apple.

"Hey," Nearly choking on her apple, Katie turned around to see Miles. Without even hesitating, he sat down next to her. "How's it been?"

"Alright," She wiped the bit of juice of her face that had dripped from her apple, "You?"

"Fine, I guess," He was now drawing circles in the table with his finger.

"That's good," Katie wished they could end this pointless chit chat.

"Listen, I know that I probably caught you off guard the other day and I'm sorry. I should've known not to ask you out in Potion's class," Miles was now smiling to himself. He knew that the problem had been about timing, not about him.

"Yeah, you did," Thinking back to what Marcus told her, Katie could see where this conversation was going. Strangely enough, she didn't feel the same dread that she had before.

"Anyway I was thinking that now would be a much better time to ask you out," Miles had turned to face her, "So, do you wanna go out to Hogsmeade with me on Halloween?"

The old, more sensible Katie would have accepted with no enthusiasm about the date. She would have been dreading every moment of being with him when she could have been with her friends or Oliver. The old Katie would have been a walking shell whenever she was around Miles. But the new Katie didn't really mind. Her heart needed to be mended and here was a person that would gladly do it. Sure she would have had to say yes anyway; but the attitude had changed dramatically.

"I'd love to go to Hogsmeade with you," Katie managed a small smile on her face. Though it was tiny in comparison to her real one, this one still had the genuine feeling tied to it.

"Terrific, I'll see you then," Miles looked like a proud hunter who had finally caught his winning prize. Walking away from her table, there was a new bounce in his step. Katie Bell had finally fallen for him.


	7. Trick or Treat?

**Well, here you go as promised. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter**

'_Revolution never came in a day she said this is a lesson in breathing'_

_Lyrics From The Method To My Medium's 'Lessons In Breathing'_

Halloween came all too quickly for Oliver Wood. Tomorrow's holiday marked the week before their first Quidditch match of the season. To make things worse, they would be playing against Slytherin. If there was anything Oliver wanted to do it was to beat them. Thankfully, he had History of Magic now; where even though he was taking it at a N.E.W.T. level, you could still doze off and pass the test. Oliver planned to use this time to work on some new Quidditch plays that would definitely keep the Slytherins on their toes. As Professor Binns droned on, he dug around his overstuffed bag until he came up with his playbook. Struggling to find a fresh page, he started to think back on the past week. It had been pretty normal, except for the fact that Katie was ignoring him completely. It was torture seeing her in the hallway, knowing that if he said "Hello" a curt nod is all he would get. He wished more than anything he could take back the day after they had fallen asleep together on the common room couch.

"Can anyone answer this? Mr. Wood?" Professor Binns was looking expectantly over at him.

"Uhm," Oliver racked his brain trying to remember what today's lesson was about. Suddenly a piece of paper was shoved in front of him. It said '1148' written in pretty cursive. "Uh, 1148?"

"Precisely," Professor Binns turned back to the board and began drawing a complicated diagram. Oliver couldn't believe his luck, looking to his right he saw a very pretty girl smiling at him.

"You're welcome by the way," She said this with a giggle. Using her left hand, she pushed away a strand of dark hair; revealing the bluest eyes Oliver had ever seen.

"Sorry thanks," He made an effort to shake her hand.

"No problem," The girl was about to turn back to the front of the room, when she stopped, "It's Oliver, right?"

"Yeah that's me," Oliver began nervously fiddling with his tie. He felt awful for not knowing this girl's name. Surely she had been in his other classes…

"I'm Ana, I moved here over the summer," Her eyes were fixed on his.

"Oh well it's nice to meet you," He was glad that she was new; it made him look less of an idiot for not knowing her name. Oliver was about to finish the last details on his new play, when he felt a light tap on his shoulder.

"It's a shame you're not in Ravenclaw," Ana made a sad face; "None of the guys are as cute as you."

"Uh, thanks," Oliver was starting to blush. No girl had ever called him 'cute' before.

"Are you busy tomorrow?" She was twirling her hair around her finger.

"I was just going to study-"

"That's no fun!" Ana smacked him lightly on the arm, "How about you show the new girl around Hogsmeade tomorrow."

"I guess I can," He couldn't think of a nice way to say no to her. In fact, she seemed like the kind of person you just don't say no to.

"Perfect, I'll meet you in the Great Hall at one," Giving him a wink, she went back to her book and began taking notes. Oliver felt like he had been hit by a bludger… twice.

~*~*~*~

The morning sun shone brightly as Katie and Miles made their way down from Hogwarts to Hogsmeade. The leaves from the trees made crunching sounds as they neared their destination. Miles had kept up most of the conversation, with Katie putting in her thoughts here and there. She didn't really want to talk about Quidditch; it kept reminding her of Oliver.

"Ready for our match next week? I heard it's supposed to be dreadful out," Miles hated playing in anything other than perfect conditions.

"I guess so, we've been practicing enough," She gave him a shrug and looked ahead to the town. It was bustling with excited third years on their first trip.

"I heard Wood's a real freak when it comes to Quidditch," He let out a small laugh as if he was recalling something funny, "Is it true he sleeps with a broom?"

"I don't know," Katie couldn't believe that the one person she was trying to forget was the one person Miles wanted to talk about.

"He's a strange one, I'm glad you don't hang around him anymore,"

"What?" She didn't like the fact that Miles thought his opinion about who she hung out with mattered.

"Well, you were always with him. For awhile I thought you were dating," Jealousy was thick on his voice. "But," His normal, cheerful demeanor returned, "You barely talk to him anymore, it's been great."

"I have been ignoring him, haven't I?" For the first time since that day, Katie actually felt bad for the way she was treating Oliver. It was wrong of her to ignore him just because he didn't reciprocate her feelings. They were supposed to be friends who stuck together through anything. Looking over to Miles, she silently asked herself what the hell she was doing.

"Yeah but he's a real git, so who cares," Katie wanted to slug Miles for what he just said. _He doesn't even know Oliver! _Trying to keep her emotions in check, she took a few crisp breaths.

"Are you thirsty? This place has the best drinks," Miles grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the Three Broomsticks. Stepping inside, the small tavern was packed with witches and wizards of all types. Navigating through the horde of people, they were able to snag a small table in the corner. Miles told Katie that he would be right back with their drinks. As he left, Katie took off her jacket and set it on the back of her chair. Strumming her fingers on the table, she looked around the room until her eyes caught a very familiar face. Sitting up a little straighter in her seat, Katie was able to make her suspicions clear. It was definitely Oliver trying to get through the large crowd of people, but there was someone behind him. With her vision limited, Katie got up on her feet and carefully made her way over. Oliver looked like he was being pushed by this mystery person. He also looked a little freaked out and when he glanced in Katie's direction, she thought he had seen her. Thankfully he didn't, so instead she quickly ducked behind a large wizard and now had the perfect view. She could see that it had been a girl that was following Oliver. A Ravenclaw, if her scarf gave any detail away. The girl was also very pretty, with fair skin and dark hair. Katie couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy as the girl put her hand on his shoulder. _Look at those two, canoodling over there. GET A ROOM!_ Unable to stand the sickening sight any longer, Katie started to make her way back to her table. Miles was already back and when he had asked her where she went, she briskly replied "Bathroom."

They sat in silence for the next few moments. Katie was still seething about the girl who was fawning herself all over Oliver. Each time she set her glass down, more butterbeer would splash from the top. Miles had taken almost immediate notice of Katie's sudden behavior and began to furiously wonder at what could have caused her to be this upset. As she lifted her glass to take another angry sip, Katie suddenly saw the pair get up from their seats and make their way out. With her eyes wide in curiosity, she immediately set her drink down and began putting her jacket back on.

"Where are you going?" Miles was a little worried at her sudden movements.

"I need to get some fresh air," As she finished buttoning up her coat, Katie started to make her way out of the Three Broomsticks. Miles's frantic calls of "Wait for me" didn't even slow her down in her manic pace to follow Oliver and his little friend.

~*~*~*~

Oliver was dying a slow, painful death. Not literally of course, but he came close. Ana's voice was a constant buzz in his ear, as was her arm linked with his. Her grip had never loosened since they left the Three Broomsticks; it was like having a broken arm.

"Oh! What's that up there?" Oliver was pulled back into the dull conversation as Ana pointed to a large, dark house.

"That's the Shrieking Shack," Its novelty had worn off in Oliver's fifth year.

"Can we go in it?" Her eyes were sparkling at the thought.

"We're not really supposed to-"

"Come on Ollie, loosen up a bit," She took his hand and began pulling him towards the house. The leaves were thicker and more concentrated as they reached the wooden fence surrounding the property. Oliver had never been this close to the house, usually limiting his Hogsmeade visits to its shops. He had to admit that it was amazing, its crooked pipes and shuttered doors were alluring. It was like the house was begging him to come closer, even step inside it.

"Hmm the walk down seems a little rocky," Shaking his mind clear, Oliver looked over to see that Ana already passed the fence. Her foot was kicking at the leaves, which fluttered down the cliff edge. He was about to yell at her to come back, when he heard voices. He swore silently at the fact that they were about to be caught.

"…just slow down!"

Oliver smiled at the fact that it was just students. Probably just lower classmen coming to take a look at the Shrieking Shack.

"Stop following me!"

His smile was wiped clear as he heard that voice. There was no doubt in his mind that it was Katie. Worried that something had happened to her, he began to make his way over to the voices.

"Katie, what's wrong with you?" Oliver could now see the pair. It was in fact Katie and she appeared to be with some guy.

"Miles go back," _So this is Miles Bletchley! _He was glad that he could finally put a face to the name.

"What, did I do something?" _You better not have. _Oliver narrowed his eyes at the boy, tensing up as Miles got closer to Katie. She had stopped in the middle of the path to face him.

"No, just can you please go back," Her voice was pleading, begging almost. Miles made a move to grab her, which infuriated Oliver.

"Oi!" Oliver used his captain's voice as he gained their attention, "I believe she asked you to leave."

"Oliv-" Katie was cut off as Miles pressed his lips against hers. Thankfully it was only for a fraction of a second before her mouth was free. Looking over to her left, she saw Oliver and Miles rolling around on the ground. Fists were flying and the sounds she heard were evidence that they were making contact. Rushing over them, she tried pulling Oliver off. It was very difficult, as the boys kept moving and kicking up leaves.

All of a sudden, Katie felt a red hot pain on her face. She stumbled back and hit the ground hard. Carefully touching her nose, pain shot through her body like a bullet. Pulling her hand away, she saw that it was covered in blood. Retching as she felt the crimson liquid drip down her throat, Katie quickly turned over to her side.

"Katie! Oh Kates, I'm so sorry," She felt warm hands push back her hair. Hearing that familiar Scottish accent made her heart flutter in a way that it hadn't done for weeks.

"Its fine, I'm fine," Katie tried to sit up, she felt like an idiot lying on the ground with just a nose bleed.

"Oh jeez Katie, I didn't mean to do that," A painfully familiar voice floated over. Before she could say anything to Miles, Oliver cut in.

"Leave Bletchley, you've done enough," Katie had never heard Oliver's voice so low before. It was frightening in a way, and she knew from the crunch of leaves that Miles had found it scary too.

"Is he gone?" Her face contorted in pain as she tasted the blood on her lip.

"Yeah, you're safe now," Oliver had been watching Miles, making sure that he didn't come back. Deciding that he was a safe distance away, he turned to face her. Katie's face was covered in blood, with her nose at an awkward angle. It was hard seeing her like this; when the culprit was within his reach minutes ago.

"I was safe before," Katie smiled at the fact that Oliver thought she was in danger.

"I can fix that," He ignored her comment and gestured to her nose.

"The bleeding will stop."

"The swelling won't. Let me help," Oliver muttered a short spell. Katie heard the sickening crack before she felt the repair it had done. She gingerly touched her nose, it felt fine.

"Here," He held out a checkered handkerchief. Oliver smiled when she gave him a quizzical look. "It's for the blood."

"Oh right," Taking it, she carefully began wiping her face. Katie vowed not to look at the cloth for fear of how much blood was on there. Acting like a true gentleman, Oliver took the handkerchief from her so that she wouldn't have to look at it.

"Let's go get you changed," He helped her onto her feet, even offering to carry her up to the castle.

"I'm fine, Oliver. I've gotten Quidditch injuries worse than these," She said.

With that, they made their way up the winding path, enjoying each other's company for the first time in weeks.

~*~*~*~

**Any review is a good review, so if you please…**

**=)**


	8. One Step Forward

**Eeek my updating schedule has been so off lately! Sorry about that, I think I've worked out most of the major kinks with my computer though (hehe...)**

**I hope this doesn't disappoint, also I'm finding that this story just keeps on going, and going. Exciting huh?**

**Well, here you go. Read on!!**

~*~*~*~

'_I just wanna be where you are tonight'_

_Lyrics From Yellowcard's 'Light Up the Sky'_

The halls of Hogwarts were madness. It was filled with students moving about, enjoying the weekend and the upcoming feast. Halloween was the holiday that always had the best food and entertainment. This year the Hogwarts ghosts promised a really good show after dinner. But even with all these positive aspects, the only thing on Oliver's mind was the girl walking beside him.

"You should have seen this killer essay Flitwick assigned us. It was supposed to be twenty-four inches," Katie used her hands to demonstrate a large gap, "Twenty-four! You would have thought he was teaching an O.W.L. class."

"Get used to that, N.E.W.T. papers are at least thirty-two."

Their conversation had remained mostly school-based. Both of them were worried to talk about anything besides that. Oliver was pretty sure he could keep his day with Ana a secret; he hadn't seen Katie at all in Hogsmeade. The last thing he wanted was for Katie to give him the cold shoulder again. Reaching the Fat Lady, they gave the password and entered the common room. It was mostly packed with fifth and six years, who had grown tired of the Hogsmeade trips.

"I'll just go change my shirt," Katie told him before she walked away towards the girls' dormitories. Oliver wasn't sure how long it would take before she came back downstairs, so he headed over to Fred and George who looked like they were discussing something very serious.

"Hey guys," Oliver's greeting was met with two very angry looking pairs of eyes.

"I can't believe you!" George was the first to speak, causing Oliver to stumble back a bit.

"What did I do?" He had absolutely no idea what he could have done to offend the twins.

"How could you beat up a Slytherin and not invite us along?" Fred now joined the conversation, giving the same tone his brother had.

"How d'you know about that?"

"It's all over the bloody school, mate," George had relaxed his stance, but was still staring daggers at Oliver, "You can't expect something like that to remain a secret."

"I didn't think it was that important," Oliver was mortified that the whole school was talking about this. Now he knew what it was like to be Harry.

"We've been wanting to do that for years," Fred actually sounded sad when he mentioned that.

"Well next time, I'll be sure to tell you," Oliver had started to back away from them, hoping that Katie had picked out a shirt by now…

"You do that Ollie," The twins had followed him and put their arms around his shoulders, making a small alcove so that they could talk privately.

"So," George was now smiling like they hadn't just been mad at him five seconds ago, "Is it true you fought because of Katie?"

"Yeah, tell us all the details," Fred had matched George's enthusiasm.

"Well, yeah I mean she was being smothered by-"

"Fred! George!" Katie's voice was loud and clear as she rounded the three boys, "Can I please ask why you are talking about me behind my back?"

Giving Katie a shy smile, they quickly backed away and disappeared into the growing crowd of Gryffindors. Putting her hands on her hips, she turned to give Oliver a questioning look.

"It was, uh, nothing bad," Oliver nervously ran his hands through his hair, "They just wanted to know what the fight was about."

"The fight…? You mean-" Katie held her stomach, she felt like she was going to be sick, "They know?!"

"Apparently, the whole school knows," Oliver was worried about her reaction. Though it was embarrassing, was it really that bad that the school found out? Maybe they would sign a petition to kick Miles out of the school. Oliver smiled at that fantasy.

"Oh god, this isn't good," She kept thinking about Marcus and what he would say. He would definitely sack her dad after this, _Why does Oliver have to be so noble??_

"Kates, its gonna okay," He gently took her hand in his. Giving it a small squeeze, he looked into her eyes. They were full of sadness and confusion, "I mean the school will find something new to talk about soon. Harry and his friends always have something up their sleeve."

"I suppose you're right," Katie knew that she would just have to explain to Marcus that it was all a big misunderstanding. Hopefully he wouldn't continue to make her see Miles. She couldn't do that to Oliver.

"Are you hungry? It's about time for dinner,"

"I'm starving, let's go."

~*~*~*~

That year's Halloween feast had really outdone itself. The orange streamers were a fun touch, while the live bats were a riot. It was fun watching them swirl and loop in the starry sky that was the Great Hall's ceiling. Oliver and Katie had spent the better part of the meal talking amongst themselves. They were ignoring the stares and whispers from other students.

"Can't they stop staring?" Katie asked, as she turned to stare down some third year Ravenclaws, "It's hard for me to eat."

"Hey," Oliver shifted in his seat so that he was eye level with Katie, "Just focus on me."

It was hard for Katie not to melt right there in her seat. His eyes were so warm and trusting. She couldn't help but give in. Unfortunately in that same moment, a girl about three years Katie's senior had sat herself down in the seat next to Oliver.

"Hey Ollie!" _Ollie?! Who does this girl think she is? _Finally getting a good look at her, Katie noticed it was the same one Oliver had been with in Hogsmeade. Now she really couldn't eat her food. Watching this "Ana" chat and flirt was enough to make anyone stop eating.

"What happened to you? I turned around and you were gone," The pouted face Ana gave Oliver, made him trip over his thoughts. He really hated the timing Ana had. Katie was finally being friendly towards him and now it was all being ruined.

"I, uh, had to go. Ana this is my friend Katie," He gestured to Katie, who looked like she was trying to decapitate someone with her mind. Ana gave her a sarcastic smile, then instantly returned to get his attention.

Katie couldn't take it anymore. This girl had to go, immediately.

"Ana," Her voice was dripping with fake-sweetness, "Oliver is helping me study, would you mind us getting back to it?"

"I guess not," Ana shifted her eyes between the two of them. She had heard the rumors about these two, but had never believed them. Ana couldn't fathom what this younger, athletic-looking girl could possibly offer that she didn't have. Deciding to leave her mark, Ana gently kissed Oliver on the cheek before she left. _Take that!_

"That was fun," Katie rolled her eyes and took a large bite of bread.

"Yeah, she's new here and I helped show her around today," Oliver choose his words carefully, making sure that he didn't fall into one of his famous word traps.

"She must have loved that," Stabbing at a carrot harder than she meant to, Katie made it sail gracefully into some kid's drink a few seats down.

"Look I don't like her or anything," He knew he had to smooth this over somehow. "I just didn't know how to say no."

"I'm sure everyone has that problem with her,"

"Katie I'm sorry," Oliver was pleading with her to understand, but her face remained the same. "You don't see me attacking you for hanging out with Miles!"

She blinked a few times; shocked by what Oliver said. Was it true, was she being unreasonable with him? _Of course you are, he said it himself that he didn't want to be with her._ _There you go, taking one step forward only to go two steps back._

Oliver couldn't believe what he had just said. He didn't mean for that to come out, it just happened. Seeing her sit there in stony silence was agony.

"I don't mean that, I'm sorry. I keep screwing up and I-"

"Oliver stop," Katie put up her hands for emphasis. "I've been really unfair to you for the past week and I'm the one who should be saying sorry. Our friendship means a lot to me, and some random girl that forced you to go to Hogsmeade is not going to ruin it. I won't let it."

"Can we just put all this behind us?" It was the closest thing he could do to erasing the past.

"Of course," She gave him the biggest smile she had. This was the happiest she had felt in days.

~*~*~*~

The food had disappeared from the tables, which signaled that the feast was over. As Oliver got up, he was almost immediately sucked into the group of passing students. Clinging to the side of the table, he waited until most of them had passed before trying to make his way to the doors.

"Haven't you learned anything in your seven years here?" Katie asked him in a teasing tone. They had already made their way passed the doors and had just rounded the corner to the stairs. Oliver stopped, motioning for Katie to lean closer to him. Her face had curious written all over it, as she slowly closed the gap between them. When she was just a few inches away from him, he flicked her nose.

"I'm gonna get you for that, Wood!" Katie had begun to run after Oliver, who was only about three steps faster than her. He was laughing the whole way up the stairs and when he reached the seventh floor he broke into an all out sprint for the common room. Katie wasn't too far behind him, so it was no surprise that when Oliver skidded to a stop she collided with him.

"Why is everyone out here?" Katie was breathless from running up all those flights of stairs. Standing outside of the Gryffindor common room was almost all of the students, all struggling to get a better view of what the hold up was. "Can you see what's happening?"

"No," Though Oliver was about six feet tall; he still couldn't make out why no one was entering the room.

"Let me through, please," Percy's unmistakable voice was heard bobbing over the hushed noise of the crowd. He said a few more things, but Katie and Oliver were too far back to hear him. Suddenly, the students fell silent. Katie looked up worriedly at Oliver, but she could tell from his puzzled face that he didn't know what Percy had just said either. Seeing Professor Dumbledore arrive, made the crowd step back a few feet. From there, Oliver could see that the Fat Lady was missing from her portrait, the canvas ripped to shreds. He couldn't believe anything like that could happen.

"What?" Katie was pulling on his arm, "What is it?"

"It's the Fat Lady, she's gone," Oliver said this in a monotone voice.

"Gone? Where did she go?"

It was then they overheard Peeves saying, "Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black."

~*~*~*~

The Great Hall was loud and stuffy as all of the students were conversing about Sirius Black. So many theories were being concocted that it was almost hard to take this seriously. The teachers announced that they would be conducting a thorough search of the castle, telling the students that they would be spending the night here. With a wave of his wand, Professor Dumbledore gave them all purple sleeping bags. Oliver hadn't left Katie's side since they had first seen the ripped portrait. Grabbing two sleeping bags, he pulled them closer to a wall so that they could talk alone.

"I can't believe this is happening," Katie shook her head in disbelief as she adjusted her sleeping bag.

"I know, I thought Hogwarts was the safest place in the world," Oliver said this with unease as he rested his head on the squashy fabric.

"Hopefully it still is," She wished they would catch Black soon, it was an unnerving thought thinking he could be somewhere in the school.

"The lights are going out now!" Oliver craned his neck to see Percy standing in the middle of the Great Hall, "I want everyone in their sleeping bags and no more talking!"

It was instant darkness. Soft light was filtering in through the windows, but it still wasn't much. Giving Katie a quiet goodnight, Oliver struggled to get comfortable. It was difficult with a crack in the stone floor right in the middle of his back. Turning to his side he was able to see Katie, who had fallen asleep almost immediately. She looked so much like the night she had fallen asleep on his shoulder. He slowly reached out to push a strand of hair away from her face. She fidgeted a little at his touch, but soon relaxed. Oliver could feel his eyes drooping now, but he fought back the sleepiness just to stare at her some more. Suddenly sleep overpowered him and he was out.

~*~*~*~

**I'm not sure why, but this is my favorite chapter so far. I guess I can just relate to the whole 'dinner' part. Eh, tell me what you thought. It's much more interesting**

**=P**


	9. Tough Love

**Ohmygosh, did anyone else see the glimmer of snow?! Well it depends where you live (if you even get snow) but we did here and I'm so excited!! Gah, I love winter. **

**Anyway here you go, it's a little shorter than usual but it's moving the story along. **

**And trust me the next chapter is totally worth it. *nudge, nudge, wink, wink, feels a little awkward doing this so I'm gonna stop***

**Read on!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, silly child**

'_Take me away, I'm gonna hurt somebody'_

_Lyrics from Plain White T's, 'Take Me Away'_

~*~*~*~

The days following Sirius Black's break-in to Hogwarts were so hectic, it was amazing the students got anything done. Every free moment was spent discussing tactics and strategies that Black could have used to gain entry into the castle. Katie tried ignoring them, mostly because they were rubbish. When she heard the latest one, it made her burst in laughter. _Honestly, Sirius Black turning into a houseplant?_ Her laughter was stifled though, by the intimidating glare Professor Snape gave her as she walked into the Potion's classroom. Katie had been dreading this class all week, not only because it was awful but because Miles was in it. She had been successful so far in avoiding him, but here in Slytherin territory anything was possible. Before she even sat down, Katie could feel his eyes boring into the back of her head. Making a mental note not to turn around the whole class period, she swiftly got to work.

~*~*~*~

An awful smelling potion and five points from Gryffindor later, Katie was finally able to pack up and leave Potions. As she stuffed the last of her books into her bag, she couldn't help but worry about the following match on Saturday. Though they were practicing enough, it was difficult not to think about the horrid weather forecast that was being predicted. Playing against the most violent team in the school was hard enough; having to try and see through rain and clouds were a whole different matter.

"Hey," There was something all too familiar about the voice that Katie heard behind her. Squeezing her eyes shut, she prayed that it was anyone else then who she thought it was.

"Listen, I understand if you're mad at me for what happened," _Nope it's Miles, _she thought.

"Thanks for understanding," Katie said this in the most sarcastic voice she could muster.

"Katie wait," He all but had to push over a desk to stop her from leaving the class, "I want you to give me a second chance."

"By my count it's your third," Miles was now blocking her path to the door. She taped her foot impatiently, hoping to make him hurry up.

"Come on Kates, I really like you," Katie shifted uncomfortably when Miles said her nickname. It was almost worse hearing it from him then Marcus.

"If you liked me, you wouldn't have followed me," Pushing past him, she opened the heavy wooden door. "And if you really liked me, you wouldn't have kissed me when I didn't want to."

The stunned expression on his face kept Katie happy for the rest of the evening.

~*~*~*~

Quidditch practices were being crammed into every free minute the team had. Oliver was determined to begin this year off with a good head start. It would be too much for him to bear if they came in last place again. As he headed out to the pitch, a drum of thunder echoed from the east. It would be tough conditions, but his team could handle it.

"Wood!"

Turning around, Oliver saw the troll-like face of Marcus Flint walking towards him.

"What do you want?" Oliver unconsciously balled his hand into a fist.

"Calm down," Marcus flashed him a toothy smile, "I'm not here to kick your ass."

Oliver shook his head and started finishing his trek down to the field.

"Good luck with your match on Saturday! I hear Hufflepuff's got a terrific Seeker."

Stopping dead in his tracks, Oliver tried to process what Flint just told him.

"I mean Harry's great and all," Marcus was now standing beside him, "But Diggory's got a mean dive."

"We're playing you, not Hufflepuff," Oliver's words were so precise he sounded like Professor Snape.

"Not anymore, Draco's arm is still mangled from that bird. We're out of the game," Marcus was just about to leave Oliver behind, when he just remembered something. "Could you do me a favor, Wood?"

Oliver didn't look at him. He was seething with the fact that every play and practice had been wasted.

"Tell dear Katie that I want a word with her later, alright?" Oliver's eyes snapped to attention when he heard Katie's name. Marcus just smiled at him and slapped him on the back.

He watched Flint walk back up to the castle, wanting nothing more then to chuck something at his back. Oliver wasn't normally a violent person, but when it came to Katie everything was fair game. As he finally reached the Quidditch field, the sound of excited chatter could be heard from the small group of red and gold clad people. Throwing down his broom with more force than he meant to, Oliver sauntered over to group and announced the dreadful news.

"We're not playing Slytherin!" Just saying the words made all his anger come rushing back. "Flint's just been to see me. We're playing Hufflepuff instead."

He spent the next few moments discussing why the teams had been switched. Harry's outburst of "There's nothing wrong with Malfoy's arm!" got the whole team, including Oliver, agreeing with him.

"I know that, but we can't prove it," His tone was rather bitter as he said this. "And we've been practicing all those moves assuming we're playing Slytherin, and instead it's Hufflepuff," He was looking at the faces of his team members. All of them had confusion written on their faces. Oliver knew it was time for one of his famous pep talks. "And their style's quite different. They've got a new Captain and Seeker, Cedric Diggory-"

A sudden round of giggling was heard. Looking to his left, Oliver saw Angelina, Alicia, and Katie holding their hands over their mouths.

"What?" He frowned at them, especially Katie who was never one to giggle at anything.

"He's that tall, good-looking one, isn't he?" Angelina was being given the death glare from George.

"Strong and silent," Katie said, as the threesome went into a giggling fit again. Oliver felt a pang of jealousy as she said that. Diggory was now on his enemies list, right next to Flint.

"He's only silent because he's too thick to string two words together," Fred gave Oliver a quick nod. "I don't know why you're worried, Oliver, Hufflepuff is a pushover. Last time we played them, Harry caught the Snitch in about five minutes, remember?"

"We were playing in completely different conditions!" Oliver couldn't believe his team was taking this so lightly. "Diggory's put a very strong side together! He's an excellent Seeker! I was afraid you'd take it like this! We mustn't relax! We must keep our focus! Slytherin is trying to wrong-foot us! We _must _win!"

"Oliver, calm down!" Fred's face looked slightly startled. "We're taking Hufflepuff very seriously. _Seriously_."

Oliver took a deep breath. He knew that the team understood why he wanted to win so badly. It was his last year at Hogwarts. His last chance to win the Quidditch cup.

"Alright, let's start with you Harry,"

~*~*~*~

Everyone was muddy and tired as they headed toward the locker rooms. Katie felt like she could have passed out on the field right then and there. Deciding to take a breather before she got clean, Katie took a seat by the tallest goal post. The cold metal felt good against her back. Looking down at the ground, she started drawing in the white sand. At first it was just a heart, then she started adding her initials. The K.B. looked lonely in the heart. Smiling to herself, she added O.W. right below it. Katie liked how their initials looked next to each other, like they were meant to be there.

"Why are you still out here?"

Katie's hands couldn't move fast enough as she quickly wiped her picture out of the sand.

"Nothing, I was just-" She took one final swipe at the sand. "-sitting here."

"Sounds fun," Oliver mused as he nudged some of the sand with his foot.

"You can sit down, if you want to," She moved over so that he could lean against the same pole.

"Thanks," He barely made a sound as he slid down next to her. They both sat there for a while, listening to the rustle of the wind in the trees.

"It's gonna be alright, you know."

"What?" Oliver was so tired; he almost dozed off with his eyes open.

"The game," Katie said. "It's going to be fine."

"You know we're going to win?" He hoped that those silly Divination classes Katie took were finally paying off.

"No," She flashed him a smile. "I just know how worked up you get and how you think that if we don't win… the world's going to end or something."

"It might end, you never know-"

"You know what I mean!" Katie gave him a pointed glare. "They're gonna try their hardest. Everyone knows how much this means to you."

"Yeah," Oliver hung his head. He knew that at practice he had been a little _passionate _about winning the match.

"Hey," Katie had shifted over so that she was kneeling in front of him. "All you have to worry about is making it through tomorrow and then getting good nights sleep before the game. I'll make sure everyone does what they're supposed to do."

He looked up into her smiling face. She seemed so bent on making sure he didn't run himself ragged preparing everyone else.

"Trust me, okay?"

"Alright, but I at least get to remind Harry about Diggory," Oliver couldn't let his star Seeker go into the game without knowing the competition a little more.

"You're impossible Wood," Katie couldn't resist the urge to shake the top of his head, like he was a little kid.

~*~*~*~

The warm water from the shower felt so good, Katie didn't want to leave it. She was the last one still in the locker room because Angelina and Alicia were too tired to wait for her. Katie didn't mind though, she liked being able to take her time and not having to hurry up to meet someone.

Finally deciding she had wasted enough water, Katie dried herself off and pulled on her school robes. _One of these days I'm going to have to remember to bring my pajamas to change into instead, _she thought as she tried putting her socks back on. With her hair still damp and threatening to ice over because of the freezing wind, Katie hurriedly made her way back up to the castle. The torches on the wall not only gave off comforting light, but surprising warmth too. That's why when a rough hand grabbed her out the shadows she gave a shriek.

"Come on Bell it's too late for that," Marcus's raspy voice was so close to her face; she could almost smell what he had for dinner.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Katie was ready to deck someone. All she wanted to do was climb into her warm bed. _Is that really too much to ask?_

"I told Wood I wanted to talk to you. Didn't he pass my message?" Marcus always looked so calm and collected. Even when he was breaking about a thousand school rules.

"Apparently not," She anxiously peered down the hallway. _Why isn't there ever a teacher around when you want one?_

"Ready to leave already?" He gave Katie a small smile, which she just returned with a grimace.

"Yes actually. Can we just get this over with?" Katie had now taken to tapping her foot on the floor. She thought that he might catch her subtle hint.

"Before you go running off," Marcus placed his foot over hers. "I just wanted to make sure you hadn't forgotten our little agreement."

Katie's jaw clenched. She was hoping that after this Miles would have given up on her.

"Miles doesn't want me anymore. He told me himself," She hoped this lie would be enough to persuade Marcus. After all it was pretty believable.

"Please don't lie Katie," Marcus was shaking his head back and forth. "You're awful at it."

"I'm not doing this anymore," Katie had had it. She was sick of playing by everyone else's rules. _I bet Marcus was just bluffing in the first place._ "You were never going to do anything to my dad. You were lying the whole time!"

With that she pushed past him, making sure her shoulder hit his with as much force as possible. It wasn't the brightest idea, as Marcus was much stronger than her. But it didn't matter, her point was made. She could hear him scoffing as she fast-walked down the hallway.

"You're gonna regret this Bell!"

~*~*~*~

**Quite exciting, huh? Well as you may have guessed the next chapter will have the famed "Harry Potter vs. Dementors Quidditch game"**

**So stay with me, I want to see how this unfolds too…**


	10. When You've Already Caught Your Death

**Alrighty-o, here's the next chapter. I'm so excited for Winter Break; it's going to be so relaxing. *sighs***

**Well I hope you like it, read on!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter**

'_Once again we're playing off emotion, which one of us will burn until the end?'_

_Lyrics from New Found Glory's 'All Downhill From Here'_

~*~*~*~

Saturday had finally come, in all of its cloudy glory. It was obviously going to rain, which surprisingly didn't dampen everyone's spirits. In fact, people were more excited than ever. The animated chatter could be heard corridors away. Sighing as she rounded a group of overly-eager Hufflepuff, Katie completed the last few steps to the Owlry.

A few days ago, she had borrowed Alicia's owl Figgen (short for Finnegan) to send her dad a letter. Though her father had been adamant about staying in touch, it was difficult to do. They were too short of funds to afford an owl. Thankfully the post owls were often cheap, but unreliable. Once Katie had received Howler that was supposed to go to some kid in Norway. Reminding herself to thank Alicia again, Katie reached out the clip that was attached to Figgen's leg. She wasn't used to undoing the mail attachments and Figgen gave her a small nip for it. Sucking in her breath to avoid smacking the bird, Katie tried once again to retrieve her letter. Figgen was now hopping about, giving her a look that said "Catch me if you can."

Pushing up her sleeves in frustration, Katie lunged at the small, brown bird. It easily jumped out of her reach and continued to pop around. She quickly got up and narrowed her eyes at him. Taking careful steps, she pretended to grab him from the left. When he reacted to that, Katie snatched out to the right and yanked her letter from his ankle.

"Hah! Take that you stupid bird!" Figgen just stared blankly at her and then soared up to nest in one of the higher perches.

Leaving the Owlry and swiftly reminding herself to kill Alicia, Katie tried opening her, now ripped and dirtied, letter. She smiled when she saw her father's brisk, slanted writing. Her smile slowly faded however as Katie started reading it.

_Dear Kate,_

_It's so good to hear from you again. I hope this bird gets this to you without difficulties. He's a right hassle to deal with, so you better get this letter. _

_How are classes going? I know you're not an O.W.L student yet, but that doesn't mean you can slack off. I want you to keep working hard, scholarships these days are hard to come by. _

_Some bad news on this end though. I won't be able to come to your Quidditch match on Saturday. I'm so sorry about this Kate, but the work load has just been awful. I've been assigned to come up with an anti- gnome solution. It's going to be impossible, plus with the deadline coming up so soon I don't know if I'll make it. Sorry to put all of this on you, I've just been so stressed lately. I'm sorry Kate. _

_I love you very much,_

_Dad_

"That slimy git!" Katie shoved the letter back into her pocket. She knew Marcus had to be the cause of her father's hectic work schedule. This had to end, now.

~*~*~*~

The main hall was filled with students, all waiting impatiently for the go ahead to enter the stadium. Clusters of kids blocked Katie's path, but she was a woman on a mission. She wasted no time until she found Flint. Hearing obnoxious laughter and flickers of green and silver, Katie knew that he was in the far left corner. As she put her hair up in a hasty ponytail, she eyed him carefully. He was sitting in the middle of a bunch of other slimy Slytherins. They were all jeering at the passing people, regardless of what house they belonged to. Summoning up her past fury, Katie marched right up to them.

"I need to talk to you," Katie didn't make eye contact with anyone else besides Flint.

He gave her a wide grin as he looked around at his fellow classmates. "Whatever for, Bell?"

"You know," She was mentally kicking herself for she sounded. The last thing Katie wanted was for all the Slytherin boys to think she hooked up with their Quidditch Captain.

"No, I don't think I do," Flint was enjoying every moment of this. "D'you think you could refresh my memory?"

Katie had, had enough of this. Using all the strength she could muster, she yanked him up by the arm and dragged him behind one of the tall columns.

"A little theatrical for your tastes, isn't it?" Marcus couldn't believe Katie had just shown him up in front of all of his friends. _Doesn't this girl have a brain in her head?!_

"You're making my dad work overtime, aren't you?" Although Katie was positive of the answer, she had to hear him confess it. Moving up closer to his face, she shoved him in the chest. "It's your fault he has all these impossible projects!"

At this, Marcus grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her around so that her back was against the column. Katie was dizzy from his quick movement and had to blink a few times before registering the angry expression on his face.

"I don't like being accused of things Bell, I don't like it one bit." She tried to slide past him, but Marcus shot out his arms on either side of her. "But do you know what I don't like even more?"

Katie was frightened now. This whole time, all of Marcus's threats seemed worthless. Just a prank he was pulling to pass the time. But now, when she was face to face with him and her father was killing himself trying to do the impossible. It terrified her.

"I don't like it when I ask people to do something and they completely ignore me."

She swallowed hard. "But he-"

"Here's what you're going to do. You are going to go crawling back to Miles begging him to take you back. You are going to do everything, _everything," _Marcus made sure to exaggerate that, "you can in order to have him go out with you. Is that clear?"

Katie nodded her head slowly. Looking over to her right, she tried everything in her power to blink back the tears that were starting to form.

"Don't think this is the end, Bell. I'm just getting started. If you think my power just reaches out to your dad, you've got another thing coming."

Marcus finally left then, returning to his now smaller group of cronies. Using the back of her gloved hand, Katie quickly wiped away some of the traitor tears that had formed. When she made sure that she had gotten every last one, Katie starting heading down to the locker rooms. A Quidditch match seemed like the perfect thing to take everything off her mind right now.

~*~*~*~

**Oliver's POV**

_I'm dreaming. _

Or at least that's what I kept telling myself. How else would anyone explain why I was sopping wet and telling Diggory that he won the game fair and square? It must just be one of those horrible nightmares where you know you're dreaming but can't wake up. That's it. Just a quick pinch on the arm and I'll be up.

That doesn't seem to have done the trick. Maybe a kick to the locker room door…

"Ah!" Bad idea. Bad idea. How can I not have woken up by now?

"Oliver, you coming?" I turned around, vaguely aware of what Fred, _Or George?, _was rambling on about.

"Quick! Go, go!" A rush of red hair flew by me, grabbing my arm and dragging me halfway across the locker room. I didn't know why I was being dragged towards the door. I had enough sense to know that I didn't want to go out into the cold again. Slipping my arm out of whichever twin that grabbed me was easy.

I went to go lay down on one of the benches. The wood felt good against my sore back.

_This is some realistic dream I'm having. I'll have to tell everyone at breakfast how crazy this all is. _

I closed my eyes for awhile. I'm not sure how long but it felt good. After a few minutes of this, was when I finally noticed how wet I was. And muddy.

When I couldn't stand the dirt, which was now drying, on my pants and shoes anymore I headed off to the showers. I had every intention of taking my clothes off, but somehow it felt weird. So there I was standing in a shower, completely dressed, when it hit me.

_This isn't a dream. I really did just play in some of the worst weather my team has ever faced. But I saved some goals…right? I know we made some, I heard the cheers. But then why did we-_

"No." My mind had reeled back to the incident. Harry. My youngest player, who'd never lost a game, had crashed. Fallen, from who knows how high up.

"Oh Merlin no!" I couldn't believe this. All of our training, all of our hard work. Gone. My knees suddenly felt very weak. I carefully slid down the side of the shower, which had taken an icy turn. I didn't care though. My misery liked the cold.

I have no idea how long I sat there. Minutes, hours. Who cared?

The only sound was the water. It was comforting somehow. I could have sat there forever. What else was there to do? I had already let everyone down. Everything so pointless now…

_Thunk, thunk_

I must have lost my mind out on the field. Here I was, a failure who had the uncanny ability to make up sounds.

_Thunk, thunk._

I groaned internally. I was well on my way to the loony bin. All those thunk-ing sounds were really irritating now.

THUNK, THUNK!

_Okay, that's it! I swear I am going to-_

"Oliver?"

I stopped mid-thought. I know I wasn't making that up. There's no way I could make a voice up. Especially one that sounded just like-

"Oliver, I know you're in there. Can you just- I don't know if you're, you know, _decent, _but-"

"S'open" I could barely croak out my words. My voice sounded foreign and strangled.

I could hear the door open slowly. A faint shadow was now outlined in the fabric of the shower curtain. It grew steadily darker and larger as it came closer. A hand snaked its way around the fabric and with slow uncertainty drew it back.

She looked beautiful. Even though she was still clad in her Quidditch uniform and dripping with mud, Katie Bell was gorgeous.

She looked frightened at my appearance though. Heck, who wouldn't be. I wouldn't want to look at myself either.

But this wasn't what caught my attention. It was the way she was holding back, as if uncertain to approach me. Her arm, that was just a few feet away from me, looked as if it was being held back by an invisible force. I couldn't understand it. Sure I had hit rock bottom, but I wasn't that scary was I?

Katie must have caught on to my confusion, for she quickly joined me on the wet, tiled floor. I was going to tell her that she should go, not because I didn't want her there, but because. Well. She _looked _as miserable as I felt. I wasn't sure why though. I mean yeah I had brought the whole team down. Probably lost our chance at the cup. _Oh Merlin, not again…_

I quickly buried my head in my knees, thankful that the water hid most of my tears.

We sat there for a good long while. Not as long as I had before, but enough so that the water finally turned itself off. I was a bit shocked when it went away. After all, it had been my companion for most of the night.

Katie, in the end, was the one who finally ushered me out of the locker room. The whole way up to castle and even to the portrait she held my hand, rubbing it in slow, soothing circles. _That _calmed me down quite a bit.

I'm not sure what hour I finally fell asleep at. I don't even remember going up to my dorm. But there I was, Sunday morning, still in my uniform and still haunted by what happened.


	11. Rock Bottom Has Some Sharp Points

**Ah, I'm so happy that Winter Break is here! =]**

**Hopefully this will free up my time to write more chapters of this amazingly growing story, heh.**

**Oh! One last thing, thank you to everyone who reviewed. Seriously. I know how easy it is to read something then move on, but I really appreciate the extra effort. **

**Okay enough of me, go on read!**

**Disclaimer: No, I don't own Harry Potter**

'_I'm obsessed and stressed with this mess, I can't think of things'_

_Lyrics From Cute Is What We Aim For's 'Risque'_

~*~*~*~

"Our noble captain returns!"

Oliver was met with a frenzy of applause from his teammates as he sat down to breakfast on Sunday morning. He forced a grim smile at George, who was now being smacked by Angelina for screaming in her ear.

"Really mate, you did fantastic." Fred lifted his cup to Oliver's who, when he didn't respond, clinked his glass with George.

"Come on Oliver, it was one game." Alicia gently touched his hand. Her small gesture reminded Oliver of how nice Katie's hand had been on his. Looking around him, he found that he youngest chaser was nowhere in sight.

"Uhm… guys?" They each looked slightly surprised at how _dead _his voice sounded. Oliver was shocked too, which is why he tried desperately to clear his throat.

"Yeah?" Angelina was leaning attentively forward. She liked to think of herself as the 'den mother' of the group. It was just in her nature.

"Where's Katie?" It felt like time had stopped. Everyone went into that sort of silence where they know what you're asking, but don't want to tell you. Fortunately, as soon as Oliver had asked the question, Angelina's eyes had darted right behind him. It was only for a fraction of a second, but years of Keeper training had let Oliver catch it.

Narrowing his eyes in confusion, Oliver slowly turned to look behind him. It didn't hit him as to why he was looking at the Ravenclaw table, but hearing an all too familiar voice another table back soon lead him to the answer. Sitting at the Slytherin table, next to a smug looking Flint and obnoxiously loud Bletchley was _Katie?!_

Oliver thought he was dreaming. There was no way she was over there. He looked back to his friends, who had all decided that their breakfast was suddenly fascinating.

"How did- Why is…," He couldn't seem to get the words out. Glancing once more behind him almost made him sick as he saw that she was now laughing at something that pompous jerk Miles had just said.

He couldn't stand it anymore. He had to get out of this room, hell out of this castle. Getting up without another word, he swiftly left the Great Hall.

~*~*~*~

**Katie's POV**

_Ever have that feeling that the world is somehow conspiring against you to make your life abso-freaking-lutely miserable?_

_Well, I do and it sucks. Big time. _

_As you could probably guess, I had to "make-up" with Miles last night. And let me tell you it wasn't pretty. To sum it up short, I blamed the outburst on PMS. Just mentioning anything feminine around Miles got him to take me back pretty fast. I may have to remember that for the future... _

_And please don't even get me started on Oliver last night. When I was told that I'd have to go back with Miles, I promised myself I would try and distance myself from Oliver. Out of sight, out of mind you know? Anyway, we can all see how badly that plan went. _

A sudden jerk from my right caused my hand to streak a huge glob of ink across my freshly written page. I was ready to kill whoever had done it, but remembering what kind of company I was in, well what can you do?

I grudgingly shoved my journal back into my bag, where I knew it was stay out of harms way for the rest of breakfast. Fortunately, the conversation centered on Miles, who seemed to be in the middle of a really long and really boring story.

"… and he just fell right on his face!" He had apparently been telling a story about how much fun he was having torturing first years.

He looked over at me, to see my reaction I guess. I gave him the smallest smile I had, and then quickly turned my attention to the plate of cold, untouched food before me.

"Oh it was great, you should've been there." _Yes, such a shame I missed that. Not. _

"Hey, I've got some work I want to finish. I'll see you later, okay?" I couldn't wait to get out of there. Not only were Miles's stories boring me to death, but the glares from the rest of the Slytherins were enough to do me in also.

"You're such a nerd sometimes." Clenching my jaw in irritation, I grabbed my bag headed out of there as quickly as possible. I will never understand why my life had to take such a sucky turn. I always thought my parents divorce would give me enough 'pity points' so that the world wouldn't let me deal with stuff like this. Hmm, guess I was wrong about that.

Since I didn't actually have any work to do, I headed outside. It was still chilly, but refreshing. The crisp wind felt like it was just blowing all my cares away. Sticking my hand out, I felt my way along the stone walls and columns that surrounded the small courtyard. It was then, right in the middle of my peaceful time, that I heard a shout. More accurately it was a lot of shouts and the sound of something smacking into the stone. I was so mad at that moment that I didn't think about what I was doing. All that was running through my mind was marching up to whoever was making the ruckus and scream at them.

As my footsteps got increasingly louder as I reached the culprit, so did whatever they were saying. You'd think something would have clicked in my brain that this person would much rather be left alone, then to have someone shout at them, but of course that wasn't the case. I swear I'm going to have a talk with myself later about this sort of thing.

When I rounded the corner, I had everything planned out of what I was going to say. Though it was hasty, I thought I would get my point across quite well. Even with the occasional swearing that seemed to follow when I get cranky. I was all prepared, with my voice at its proper shouting level, when I finally saw who was standing before me. It was Oliver. Blinking in shock from that fact that the boy swore like a sailor, I was then able to get a good look at him. He seemed to be pacing, every few seconds taking a break to slam his foot or hand into the nearest object. I could honestly say that I was a little bit terrified right now. I thought I'd seen him at his worst moment, but apparently I was wrong. It was then that I decided to walk, hell, run back to the common room. Never, ever speaking of what I saw, when as luck would have it I stepped on a very, very loud stick.

"-and that stupid bloody git! How could anyone even think-"

_Shit, shit, shit! _I cringed, as I slowly turned around to face him. I started praying to God, Buddha, and heck anyone that even listen to me, that he wouldn't be too pissed about me walking in on his rant session.

"Katie?" His voice sounded shaky and quiet. Hopefully he used up most of his screaming voice.

"Uhm… yeah it's me." All I wanted to do was hide my face in my hands, I was so embarrassed.

"What are you doing out here?" _Good question!_

"I was, uh, just going on a walk and I heard shouting and now I'm here?" The last part sounded more like a question, than an answer.

"Is Bletchley out here too?" At this, I snapped my head up. _Oh God, he knows!_

"No." I said shaking my head. "I'm by myself."

"That's a first." He started walking over to the one of the benches.

"What's that supposed to mean?" My cheeks were beginning to burn. With embarrassment or anger, I'm not sure which one.

Oliver turned his head to me, looking straight into my eyes with his.

"What I mean Kate, is that you seem to be more involved with this guy then you told me."

"It's not like that." I could feel my voice shaking. I wasn't sure whether it had to do with the fact that he thought I was lying to him or that he called me Kate.

"Oh yeah? Then tell me what it is!" His rage had come back and this time it was directed solely at me.

"It's complicated." I'm not making that part up- it really was.

"Is that all you have to say?" He looked at me, pleading that it was all some sort of sick joke.

"Yes." I could barely whisper it out. It hurt like hell.

"Okay." With that he got up from the bench, passing by me only slightly. I could feel the tears coming and nothing I could do would stop them.

~*~*~*~

"Hey there, stranger."

Oliver's previously un-occupied arm was now snaked through Ana's.

"Hey." He didn't feel much like talking to anyone. Everything had taken such a dreadful turn in his life. It was surprising to still find people who wanted to talk to him.

"I haven't seen you in forever! How are you?" Her overly-positive attitude radiated onto Oliver. It was like being smothered by a fuzzy blanket.

"Fine, I guess." Oliver started taking turns that would eventually lead them to the Gryffindor common room. He wondered how much longer it would take until she got the hint.

"I'm glad to see you've recovered from that awful game. I mean, it sucks to lose but, you know, life goes on." Ana tried giving him a reassuring squeeze.

"Mhm." _Just a few more staircases…_

"So… I was wondering about something." Her voice was dripping with excitement that was meant to be masked in mystery. It was difficult for Oliver not to pick it up, since Katie had used this kind of trick all the time on him when they were friends. _Ugh. _He mentally kicked himself for thinking about Katie again. It was like his brain and heart were on two completely different frequencies; frequencies that Oliver could never tune into to.

"How about it, can you go?" He was completely oblivious to what Ana had been saying. Thankfully, they had reached the portrait and Oliver excused himself in a manner that included a hurried password and a run/slip down the stairs. _Smooth. Very smooth._

Once inside the safety of the common room, Oliver immediately sunk down into one of the chairs by the fireplace. He was surprised to find one open, but when he looked at the clock he instantly knew why. It was still early afternoon, which meant that people were probably out with their friends trying to enjoy the last fleeting moments of the weekend. Well, everyone that still had friends. Sinking down lower in the chair, Oliver now started rubbing his temples. He now suddenly had a massive headache, which was partly due to lack of sleep and the other to… Katie. Oliver couldn't believe that his mind was still on her, when he thought he had made it quite clear that he was done. Trying to take deep breathes, a sudden _thud, _followed by an "Ouch!" shifted his attention.

"You okay, Fred?" Oliver was now trying desperately to stifle a laugh. Fred had apparently been attempting to sneak around Oliver, but had failed to notice the large message board and had stubbed his toe. Fred was now hopping on one foot and saying many unpleasant things.

"Hah, yeah, I'm- _Mother of Merlin!_" Fred, while still hopping, had now crashed into a small table which caused him to fall flat on his back.

Oliver couldn't stand it any longer, he was laughing so hard tears started coming out of his eyes.

"Laugh it up, Wood. I'll just lie over here in PAIN and AGONY!"

"I'm sorry it's just-" Oliver had left the chair to help Fred off the floor and onto the couch, "I haven't laughed in awhile."

"Yeah, well I'm glad I could keep you entertained. That seems to be my only job around here." Fred started digging around his pockets until he came up with some old pieces of candy. "Jackpot! D'you want some?"

"Sure." Though he was hesitant at first, Oliver figured the candy must be safe if Fred was going to have some. Taking what looked to be a blue circle thing, he popped it into his mouth. Instantly he felt the cool sensation hit his tongue. In a few seconds, his teeth were chattering and Oliver was pretty sure his lips were blue.

"Be grateful you got that instead of the red one." Fred was now chewing some bubble gum that when you blew it out, shifted into random shapes.

It was silent for a few minutes, each boy trying to enjoy his candy. After Oliver had finally swallowed the freezing ice ball, he cleared his throat.

"Something you want to talk about?" Fred was now eyeing him curiously. He had been present at breakfast when the news of Katie and Miles had been brought up. Now he was wondering if the ever secretive Oliver Wood was going to spill.

"Only if you promise to tell me why you're crushing on Alicia."


	12. Ranking With Harry Potter

**It's been one long and crazy week! Thankfully this is getting updated (sort of) on time. **

**There was an alternate way I originally had this going, but it just didn't pan out. **

**Anyway, here it is so I hope you enjoy it. **

**Disclaimer: As cool as it would be, I do not own Harry Potter**

~*~*~*~

'_Whenever your world starts crashing down, that's where you'll find me'_

_Lyrics from One Republic's 'All Fall Down'_

"Wh-what did you say?" Fred couldn't believe the words coming out of Oliver's mouth.

"I know how you feel about Alicia." Oliver couldn't pinpoint exactly when he had found out about Fred's secret crush. But once he spotted it, it had become painfully obvious. Oliver knew that if he was going to open up about his love life, Fred would too.

"I don't, I mean she's with Lee so why would I…" Fred knew that he was at a loss for words. Oliver was right; he did have a crush on Alicia. Though he would never do something to purposely end her and Lee's relationship, it hurt him every time he saw them together.

"It's okay Fred. If you want I'll start." Oliver knew that he had just exposed his friend's biggest secret. It was only fair if he offered to go first.

Fred nodded his head in agreement.

"Well, you know how I feel about her. I mean I used to think this was just a school crush that it'd eventually go away you know? But every time I'd see her or talk to her I knew that it was much more than that. I'm not saying I want to marry her, but I can't stand to not be with her." Oliver paused to take a breath. He was starting to realize why girls talked so much.

"What happened after you left this morning? We were gonna go after you, but Angelina said it'd be better if we let you cool off." Fred said, as he popped another piece of candy into his mouth.

"It was awful, mate. I mean really awful. I went out to the courtyard, figuring some fresh air would calm me down. But then I don't know what happened, I just went into overload. Everything that had happened between me and her just came out. I started kicking the walls and shouting." Flashbacks of his tantrum began flashing in his mind. It made Oliver cringe. "Then, then Katie came out. I don't know how long she was there for, but when I saw her I-"

"What?" Fred was now more focused than ever. He felt like his mother, always tuning into those gossip articles.

"I screamed at her. I said all these horrible things. Oh Merlin, why did I do that? And her face, she looked so shocked and scared. Fred, I'm an awful person." Oliver never understood why he always spoke before he thought. It was a reoccurring trait that had become very, very annoying.

"Look, I'm sure it wasn't as bad as you think. And if you talk to her, maybe she'll understand?" Fred hated seeing Oliver like this. He never thought that his fierce, stubborn Quidditch captain could ever be vulnerable like this.

"No, I crossed so many lines here. This is even worse than before."Oliver knew he screwed up big time with this. Only a miracle could make this situation better.

"Hey I think I know something that'll cheer you up." Although Fred genuinely did want to help Oliver, he couldn't help but take this opportunity to opt out of talking about Alicia.

"What?" Mumbled Oliver.

"Quidditch. Come on I'll try out my best Chaser skills on you."

It did sound like a very pleasing offer. Plus it would take his mind off the whole Katie situation for awhile.

"Sure."

~*~*~*~

Katie wasn't sure how long she had spent crying and at this point it didn't matter. She had shattered whatever relationship her and Oliver had. No amount of apologizing in the world could make up for what had happened. Though Katie knew it was really Marcus she should be angry at, she still took it as being her fault. If she had been stronger, or braver against Marcus maybe none of this would have happened.

After wringing her hands for about the hundredth time, Katie finally got the strength to get up from the bench and start walking. The last place she wanted to be though was back in the castle, so instead she opted for a walk down to the lake. Though the grass now crunched beneath her feet, it was still her favorite place in the world. She loved the smooth, glass-like surface of the water and the trees that gave ample space to relax. Deciding to be a little adventurous, she decided to take a walk down by the rocks and small cliffs that dotted the north end of the lake. There had once been a path to it, but had been banned when students keep slipping and breaking their limbs on the rough rocks. Making sure not to get her skirt caught on any twigs, Katie made her way through the narrow and heavily-wooded trail.

It took longer than she expected, but when she was the view it was definitely worth it. The sun was almost begging to set, which made the water dance in colors of yellow and pink. Taking a few steps closer to the rocks Katie could almost now see Hogwarts. She figured it must look beautiful in this type of light and wanted very badly to see it. Though the rocks were dangerous, Katie didn't feel much like playing the safe card. Who cared if she fell? Breaking a leg would only keep her away from Quidditch and with Oliver mad at her; it didn't really make a difference. A small voice in her head told her she was being irrational, but Katie quickly pushed it to the back of her mind. Taking her first step onto the rocks felt good, like it was the one thing in her life she could finally control. Enjoying this brief moment of elation, she continued her journey across until she reached as far as the rocks were visible. And boy was it amazing. The castle with its' hundreds of windows glittered in the setting sun. Deep shadows cascaded down its side, which made it all the more beautiful and mysterious. Remembering to take a mental picture of this, Katie decided it was time to finally head back. Curfew was less than thirty minutes away and it took a good twenty minutes to get back to the castle. The rebel side of her, which had taken over when she decided to come out here, slowly faded and the usual, more reserved side of Katie had taken its place. Her only concern now was making it back to the castle as quickly as possible, which involved moving pretty fast on the rocks. She had been doing fairly well until a rogue slippery stone had caught her off guard. With her feet now out from under her, Katie saw that her head was on a direct route to a very pointy tip of a boulder. Closing her eyes, she desperately tried to use her arms to weaken the impact. But it didn't come.

Opening her eyes a small amount, Katie saw that she was stopped, a few good inches from the deadly point. Realizing that something was around her waist, she grabbed onto it for more support. When her feet were finally on a dry rock, she turned around to see what had saved her.

"Walk much?" Katie could recognize that deep, raspy voice anywhere.

"Get your hands off me, Flint." Pushing away the slimy Slytherin's hands, she almost wished she had kept falling.

"Calm yourself Bell, no need to get upset." He watched her walk away from him, smiling at the fact that she was moving at the speed of a snail on the rest of the rocks. "You better get a move on if you're going to be back on time!"

_Stupid Flint, ruining my life, probably going to get me a detention. _Katie, finally returning to more stable ground, started to head back down the path she came.

"You know, it's much quicker if you go this way." Marcus called out to her, leaning slightly on a bent tree limb.

"Why would I trust you? That way probably takes me into the Forbidden Forest!" With her hands on her hips, she glared him down.

"Would it be better if I came with you?" Marcus asked, stepping closer to where Katie stood. "We haven't had a chat in so long."

"I'd rather go my own way." She started down her path, when she was suddenly yanked by the arm. Figuring that it was useless to try and resist she followed Marcus to his 'shortcut.'

"So what was a little fourth year like you doing down by the lake at this hour?" He asked. "You do know there's a serial killer on the loose."

"I was bored and frankly this Sirius Black business is just getting silly."

"But still, you put yourself in a lot of danger. With your tendencies you're going to soon rank with Harry Potter."

"Well…" Katie now really did see how foolish she had been. What she mistook for being rebellious was just being careless. A nagging thought then popped into her head about why Marcus had been down by the lake in the first place. "What about you? I mean what were you doing down here?"

"It's none of your business."

"Oh that's pleasing to hear." Marcus was getting slightly annoyed by Katie's attitude and decided to take her down a notch.

"Tell me, how is everything with Bletchley?" He tried putting his arm around her shoulder, which Katie quickly swotted away.

"Does it matter what I say? He probably brags to everyone anyway, saying that all we do is snog."

"And other things."

"What?!" Katie turned sharply to face him.

"Relax, I was joking." Marcus smiled at her, then kept walking.

"You know," Katie started, quickening her pace to match his, "I would have thought you would've found new entertainment by now."

"New entertainment?"

"Yeah, I mean I know it's your main goal in life to make Oliver's life miserable for whatever bloody reason you have, but you've done that. So, what's the point in continuing to bother me?"

"You interest me." He said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Interest you?" She exclaimed, scoffing at this. "Did you forget to take your medication or something? Last time you talked to me you forced me to take back Miles, all that time threatening to sack my dad and essentially throwing me out on the street!"

"So?" They were in full view of the castle now, with only the courtyard between them.

"So?!" Katie felt her irritation reach a breaking point. "First off, I-"

"Miss Bell, that's quite enough of your shouting." Snape was standing in the archway, blocking their way that led into the castle.

"I'm sorry, Professor." She spat at that last word with more force than she meant to and judging by the look he was giving her she was dearly going to pay for it.

"Do you understand the meaning of 'curfew', Miss Bell?"

"Yes, but-"

"Then you will understand my meaning of giving you detention for tomorrow night. Now return to your dormitory before I suspend you from your next Quidditch match." Snape moved to the left to allow Katie to move past him.

Seething with anger she walked past him, quickening her pace just in case Marcus wanted to continue their 'conversation.' _You interest me… Its complete rubbish!_


	13. As You Wish

**Ugh, I hate technology sometimes. I really do. This gosh darn website wouldn't let me log on for the whole week! It was crazy!**

**Anyway, that's the reason for the lateness of this update. Sorry. **

**Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own Harry Potter**

~*~*~*~

'_There's nowhere to run, so let's just get it over'_

_Lyrics from Evanescence's 'Snow White Queen'_

The next day had been nothing special, save for the big gloomy cloud that was detention with Snape. It had been less than two hours ago, that Katie had left the Potions Room. It gave her no delight to be returning so quickly to it.

"Ah Miss Bell, you've finally decided to arrive." Snape was hunched over a small, simmering potion in the far left of the room.

"What do you want me to do?" She figured it was safer to cut right to the chase then to reply with a snarky comment that would surely get her a week's worth of these detentions.

"So eager to work are we?" He smiled to himself, glancing up only once to look at her. "You will be organizing the student storage closet, clearing out any expired or broken ingredients."

Katie quickly made her way over the small closet, hoping to avoid any more comments from Snape. She had just managed to get to the door, when Fred Weasley appeared at her side.

"Hey Bell," He said cheerily, though somewhat distracted.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" She also couldn't help but notice that Fred was blocking the door to the storage closet.

"Nothing really, just… hanging out." Fred tried to casually lean against the door.

"You're hanging out in the_ Potion's Room?"_ She gave him a look of disbelief.

"Sure, why not? Don't you know Potions is one of my favorite classes?" It was at that moment that a loud and furious pounding noise emitted from inside the closet.

"Is someone in there?" Katie tried to get around Fred, but was unsuccessful as he quickly sidestepped her.

"What? No! It's probably some flying keys or something."

"Fred! Something's jammed the door, can you let me out?" A voice was now coming through the door and it sounded quite agitated.

"Flying keys?" She asked him in a teasing tone. Katie then took this moment to fake out Fred and open the door. Standing in front of her was a very flustered looking Oliver Wood.

They stood in an awkward silence for a minute, until Fred cleared his throat.

"I'll just take those boxes from you and… go… this way," Fred said, clearly uncomfortable as he tried to pry the boxes that were held in Oliver's steely grip. He almost skipped down the hallway, happy to be free of all the tension that seemed to constantly radiate off the pair.

"So, you have detention also?" Katie tried to break the silence with small talk.

"Uh, yeah I do." Oliver couldn't believe he was just standing there like an idiot. _Talk to her! Apologize! Where did all your confidence go??_

"I'm supposed to help clear out the closet." Katie gestured half-heartedly to the small space behind him.

"Yeah me too."

"I'll just-" She carefully stepped around him, using every muscle in her body not to make contact with his. She rubbed her eyes then looked around the tiny area. _Great. Two hours trapped her with a guy who hates my guts. _Trying to focus all of her energy on the task at hand, Katie got to work.

The first thing she picked up was a crate full of maggot-covered grassroots. Giving it a disgusted look, she promptly tossed it into the "garbage" boxes that were just outside the door. Fred's job was, apparently, to transport the boxes to some undisclosed location. Katie envied this job, solely for the fact that she would only have to be in Oliver's presence for no more than two seconds at a time. Minutes felt like hours, as she sorted through all the potion's ingredients you could ever need. When all the bottom shelves seemed to be organized, she looked up at the top shelves. Sighing at the fact that the only items left to sort were about a foot away from her, Katie nevertheless tried vainly to reach them. She could feel every one of her muscles stretch as her fingers kept brushing the bottom of the wood. Figuring that she only needed a few more inches, Katie gave it one last effort. Standing on the very tips of her toes, she was so close to reaching it that she didn't even notice her balance slipping from under her. A sharp intake of breath was all she could do, as Katie felt her foot slip out from under her.

"Oof." It was all Oliver could manage as he tried to steady a rapidly falling Katie. She fell into his body effortlessly as his arms wrapped securely around her. Though this girl drove him absolutely insane sometimes, he couldn't help but smile at the hint of blush that was spreading over her cheeks. Oliver gave out a small laugh as Katie quickly tried to plant both of her feet back on the floor, all while trying to avoid touching him.

"I'm glad you think my clumsiness is funny, Wood." Katie hissed, as she was finally able to regain her balance.

"I wasn't laughing at you!" Oliver said sheepishly.

"Uh huh. Just hand me that box would you?" She stood there with her hands on her hips. Though Katie was glad that Oliver was being friendlier with her, she needed to keep her guard up just in case he decided to go back to being cold.

"As you wish." Oliver smiled at their old joke. A year ago over Spring Break, Katie had invited everyone to visit her mother's house to watch a movie. Needless to say it was almost a disaster having six teenage wizards trying to act like muggles. Though the evening almost failed, Oliver had actually liked those "films" as muggles called them. The one they had watched was called, 'The Princess Bride' and every time Katie asked him to do something he would reply as the characters had. It had been forever since he had done it, but saying it now seemed to help bring them back to their normal status.

"You haven't said that in… forever." Katie hadn't forgotten about the cute way that Oliver would remember and bring up movie lines, but she was positive that he had. It was surprising and comforting to see that he hadn't fully left her behind.

"Well," Oliver started as he easily grabbed the box off the shelf, "It seemed like an appropriate time to use it."

"I'm sorry." Katie blurted it out before she could even register she had said it. Oliver looked at her questionly, as if he didn't understand what she said. "I'm sorry for everything. I haven't been completely honest with you and it's wrong. These past couples of months have been… crazy. I should have talked to you, I should have-"

She was going to admit what was truly going on with Miles. But that small, little part of her told her not to. That it would just complicate things more. So she kept her mouth shut and looked up. Oliver's face was like a blank canvas. Katie couldn't read any emotion on it whatsoever.

"Miss Bell."

Groaning inside, Katie reluctantly turned away from Oliver to face a sour looking Snape.

"Yes, Professor?"

"I do believe you are supposed to be working, correct?" Snape regarded her stiffly. "Not _socializing_."

"I wasn't-"

"Be here tomorrow at the same time, Miss Bell. Perhaps that will teach you some… self-control."

Katie was just about to tell him off, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking over she saw Oliver wink at her.

"Professor, if you don't mind, I think it would be beneficial if I came and helped Katie tomorrow evening. She has trouble reaching the top shelves and since no magic is allowed during detention, I think I could help as being sort of a ladder."

"How… generous of you, Mr. Wood. Make sure to be here on time." Snape looked between the two students, then turned swiftly and walked down the hall.

Katie couldn't believe what Oliver had just offered to do for her. She wanted to thank him so much, but before she could give him any gratitude… "You just couldn't miss an opportunity to poke fun at my height could you?"

"Hey now, I was just trying to be helpful! If you want to restock all these-" He pointed around to all the shelves, "by yourself, I can just go over to Snape and tell him." He made a move to leave through the door, when Katie sidestepped him.

"No! I just- please don't make me work alone." She tried using her 'puppy-dog face.'

"Aw Katie you know what that does to me." Oliver then covered his eyes and proceeded to try and make his way down the corridor.

"Oi mate watch where you're walking!" Fred had just narrowly missed being run into by Oliver. Looking over to Katie he saw her laughing uncontrollably. Giving her raised eyebrows, she instantly stopped.

"What?" She asked, suspicious of the look Fred was giving her.

"Nothing. I'm just going to guess that everything is worked out with Oliver now."

"Unofficially." Katie said, looking down at her feet then back up at Fred.

"Unofficially?" Fred couldn't understand what her answer meant, but was pleased to see that the two were not at each other's throats.

"Yes," She gave him a small smile as a still blinded Oliver came bundling back down the hallway. Winking at Katie, Fred pressed himself up against the wall and slid down towards the Potion's doors. When Oliver managed to make his way back, Katie gently pulled his hands away from his face. "Still up for tomorrow?"

"Do I really have a choice in this?" He asked.

"No, not really."

Oliver let out a big sigh, as he stared down at his feet.

"It's not going to be that bad." Katie said, worried that Oliver might still be upset with her. "I mean you saw how quick the work got done, really it'll be over with before you know it."

"It's not that." He looked up to her eyes. His were full of the same emotion he had, had yesterday morning. "What you said earlier, did you really mean it?"

"Of course I did. You're my best friend Oliver and though I haven't been treating you like one, I do mean it." She tried giving him a reassuring smile.

"I just wish-" _That you weren't going out with Bletchley. That I had enough courage to ask you out myself before that prat did. _

"I know," She said, as Oliver looked up with a glimmer of hope. "I promise I won't ever let us drift apart like that again."

"Oh, yeah I promise too." He knew how dejected he sounded, so he quickly added, "You know that I can't live without you, I mean who else is going to give me unnecessary detentions?"

"Ugh, you are unbelievable Oliver." They started making their way out of the classroom and up to their dormitory. "Plus, you were already here for detention."

"So?"

"So, I'm obviously not the bad influence here. If anything it's you, because you're older."

"Oh not this 'bad influence' business again. You know I was a top student before I met you? Now I'm almost behind Flint!"


	14. We Talk Too Much

**I know it's a little later than planned, but it's also much longer than the other chapter. **

**Also you're going to notice a word in here that my spell checker hated with a passion. It's just a phrase me and my friends throw around a lot. I thought it would fit nicely here. **

**=]**

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter isn't mine. **

~*~*~*~

'_Were you right, was I wrong. Were you weak, was I strong'_

_Lyrics from Aly and Aj's 'Chemicals React'_

"So everything's all worked out then?" Alicia asked Fred. They were sitting in one of Hogwarts many corridors, enjoying the last few moments of their final free period. She leaned up against one of the windows, tracing the delicate glass with her finger. Fred was on the floor, playing with his tie.

"I think so. You know those two can't stay away from each other for too long." Fred was updating Alicia on the new happenings in the world of Katie and Oliver.

"I just wish those two would get together already," Alicia sighed. "The chemistry is right there! I mean how thick can you be?"

Fred shrugged. "Maybe they're just scared?"

"You should never be scared to tell someone how you feel. The worst thing in the world is never knowing what could have been."

He had to roll his eyes at her obnoxious statement. "Are you reading those muggle romance novels again?"

"Possibly," Alicia said, sitting up a little straighter against the window. "Anyway, it's just frustrating seeing them not paired up."

"Katie's paired up."

"Oh please, that doesn't even count," Alicia said.

"Why not?" Fred figured you were either with someone or not.

"Because it's just a tester boyfriend," She said knowingly. "You know, the one you try out all your flirting on."

"I see. So is Lee just your tester boyfriend?" Fred knew better than to just bluntly ask her a question like that about her boyfriend of almost a year, but it didn't stop him.

"Nah," She said, looking dreamily out the window. "He's the real deal."

"Oh," Fred said quietly.

Bringing herself back to reality, Alicia felt a little uncomfortable talking about herself and Lee in front of Fred. She knew that he was somewhat inexperienced in the relationship department. "You know if I was Katie in this situation, I would just march right up to Wood and kiss him right in front of everyone."

"Having risqué fantasies about our Quidditch captain, are we?" Fred smirked.

Alicia's eyes almost bugged out of her head.

"What?! No, I was just saying-"

"I wonder what poor Lee would think about that since he is, as you called him, 'the real deal'."

"You're such an arse!" Alicia lunged down and caught Fred around the neck. She could feel herself slipping and before she knew it, had fallen right into Fred's lap.

"Wow you two sure seem cozy," said Katie, as she and Angelina walked up to the pair that was currently splayed out on the floor.

Alicia abruptly looked at Fred who was getting pink in the ears. She started giggling, while Fred just sat there looking like the luckiest guy in the world.

"It's not-"Fred started.

"We never knew you could be such a vixen Leesh," Angelina said, winking at Fred.

"Oh, you know me." Alicia had gotten up to her feet, feeling giddy and happy all of a sudden. "I have to keep all my boy toys a secret." She wrapped an arm around Fred's shoulders.

Katie could hardly hold back a laugh. "We'll see you guys later, okay?"

"Aye, aye captain." Alicia made a saluting sign, then grabbed the back of Fred's shoulders and shoved him towards the opposite end of the hallway.

"Those two always make me laugh," said Katie, as they watched them try and push their way through the throng of opposing student traffic.

"Mhm," Angelina agreed, watching until she made sure that Alicia and Fred were gone. "Did you see that back there?" She whispered violently into Katie's ear.

"Ah!" Katie quickly cupped a hand over her ringing ear. "See what?"

Angelina rolled her eyes. "Fred and Alicia"

"Yeah, what about them?" Katie was pretty sure she wasn't going to be hearing out of her left ear anytime soon.

"It's obvious, Katie." Angelina's voice had been steadily rising, a sign that she was either having a mental breakdown or indulging in some serious gossip. "They were all over each other!"

It was Katie's turn to roll her eyes. "They were just fighting, nothing unusual there."

"No way," She said matter-of-factly. "That was flirighting."

"Flir-whating?" Katie made a face that made her look like she had just smelled something really bad.

"Flir-igh-ting. It's sort of like play fighting with a guy. You do it to try and get close to him."

"Uhm, okay." Katie was pretty sure Angelina was just making stuff.

She, in return, made a scoffing noise. "Sometimes I forget just how young you are."

Katie hated it when people used her age as a reason for her not knowing so called 'basic' things. "You're so dumb. There wasn't anything going on. Plus, as far as I've seen, Alicia's pretty happy with Lee."

"Well," Angelina paused. "I'm still gonna keep an eye on those two."

"All three of them, please."

Angelina turned on her walking partner. "Don't you have a detention to get to?"

"No," Katie said. "It's not 'til after dinner."

"Ugh."

"Sheesh, what crawled in your robe and died?" Katie asked, annoyance radiating from her every word.

"Nothing it's just… stuff."

It didn't take much more than that answer for Katie to understand. "You and George are fighting again, aren't you?"

Angelina sighed; she was never a good liar. "It's gotten better, but…"

"It'll be alright Ang," Katie placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's just a rough patch."

"We're always in a rough patch."

Katie smiled to herself. "Now you're just lying."

"Nuh uh," said Angelina a little too quickly.

"Yeah huh, I can tell. That's your lying face."

Angelina started laughing. "Bell, you're so full of it."

"Maybe I am. Maybe I'm not."

"You're truly a weird one."

"I try. Hey listen, I know that you usually go to Alicia for all these 'relationship' things, but if you ever need someone to talk to… I'm here." Katie usually hated talking about this kind of stuff, but for Angelina she'd do it. If there was anyone that she could talk to, she would in a heartbeat.

"You're willing to listen to me moan about relationships?" Angelina couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Okay, who are you and what have you done to Katie Bell?"

"I'm being serious," She gave her a little shove. "I know that if I had a problem, I'd want someone to offer up the same."

"Thanks sweetie," Angelina beamed at her. "Now let's go get something to eat, I'm starving."

~*~*~*~

"What's your problem, Bletchley?" asked a rather large and burly boy. "You've been moping around all night."

"Girl trouble?" Adrian Pucey asked with a sneer.

"Shut up Pucey," Miles said angrily. "You couldn't even get a date with your cousin!"

"Oi, knock it off!" Marcus Flint had just entered the Great Hall hoping to have a quiet meal. The only thing he could hear was his team jabbing at each other like usual. "I will not have my team arguing like a bunch of pansies."

The guys all uttered their apologies.

Finally sitting down, Marcus looked around the table. He was surprised not to see a familiar head of dirty-blonde hair. Glancing over to Bletchley, he noticed his teammate's mood was definitely sour. "Where's Katie?"

"Sitting over there," He said. "With _them._"

Marcus looked over to where Bletchley was talking about. There was Katie, all right, sitting with her friends at the Gryffindor table. Normally, Marcus wouldn't have minded either way, but in the past few days he'd gotten used to seeing her here."She's supposed to sit here with you."

"Well I can't just bloody well make her, now can I?" Miles was getting really irritated with everyone who thought they knew his girlfriend better than he did. "She'd get all… you know girly about it."

Ignoring Miles completely, Marcus looked one last time over at Katie. She seemed to really be enjoying herself, laughing and smiling at everything that was happening. He didn't know how or why, but deep in some part of his mind he wondered if Katie had ever been that happy when she was with them.

~*~*~*~

Katie had arrived right on time for her detention, trying not to be too eager to get work as she walked past Snape towards the storage closet. She could already hear Oliver shuffling around inside.

"Nice to see you this evening Wood," she said, smiling at the fact that she had obviously caught him by surprise.

"Katie! Hi, I was just-" He bent down to pick up the ball of twine he dropped. "Putting these away."

"Sounds exciting." She moved to lean against the door way. "So, where do you want me to start?"

"Well there's all these little brown things on the ground, I'm not sure what they are, but you could help pick them up."

"Alright." Katie bent down to start picking up the small brown orbs. She was about to close her hand around one, when it was abruptly stopped by a separate hand.

"Wait!" Oliver swiftly pushed Katie's hand into her lap.

"I'm waiting," she said, not sure why her life was in danger just because of a small brown clump.

"I think," He started, as he moved to get a closer look at them. "Yep, they're nettles. You've got to wear gloves when you pick them up."

"You've got to be joking me." Oliver just stared back at her. "What in the world could that-" She pointed at the innocent-looking brown mass "-do that would involve gloves?"

Oliver looked down at the ground. "Nettle have small stinging hairs on their leaves. If you touch one with your bare skin, you'll get infected." He turned to look at her to make sure she comprehended him. "Now as much fun as it would be to see you in the Hospital Wing, I don't really want to have to replace you on the team."

"Fine." Katie trumped away, muttering under breath the whole way. She came back a minute later with gloves on her hands. "Satisfied?"

Oliver smugly smiled at her. "Very."

Shaking her head, Katie got to work collecting all the small brown clumps. When she was done, she held one up to one of the torches. Its flame shown brilliantly on the skinny hairs that grew out of the leaves. Katie glanced over at Oliver, who was intently working on smoothing out a bent owl feather. He startled her by looking up at the same time she was staring at him. Realizing that she had just been caught staring at her Quidditch Captain, Katie quickly pretended to have been looking for something.

"Uhm, where'd the box with all the nettles go?" Katie asked, as believable as she could.

"Right here." Oliver handed her the medium sized box, holding back laughter the whole time. He could've sworn that he had just caught Katie staring at him.

"Thanks." She dropped the brown lumps she was holding into the container. "I can't believe we're back here again."

"Tell me about it, I've got two essays due tomorrow that I haven't even started yet." He said, taking the box back and setting it on the shelf.

"Well, someone didn't have to come with me-"

"You begged me to!" He cried indignantly.

"So? You still didn't have to." She smiled to herself then went outside the closet to retrieve more ingredients.

"You're unbelievably difficult, you know!" Oliver yelled to her.

"Oh, but that's why you love me." Katie said, sticking her tongue out at him when he turned to face her. He couldn't help but smile when she said this.

"What are you smiling at?" She asked, pausing in her attempt to straighten out the vials of leech juice.

"Nothing." Oliver quickly turned back to rearranging all the owl feathers by species.

"Whatever you say, Mr. Mysterious."

"So now I'm the mysterious one…" Oliver meant to say it quietly, but should have known better in that small, little space.

"I'm not mysterious!"

"Of course you are," He turned around to face her again, "You start dating someone I thought you hated, you're getting detentions left and right, and I..."

She couldn't believe what Oliver had just said. _Have I really become that secretive?_ Katie just gulped.

"I just don't get it. You've changed and I don't know how to keep up. It's like you have a second life or something."

"I don't…" She started shaking her head back and forth.

"Other people have noticed too. I'm just, well we're just worried about you." He hadn't wanted to get into a discussion like this tonight, but it just sort of unraveled itself. It seemed all he and Katie had lately were 'discussions.' Oliver terribly missed the light and fun conversations they used to have.

"Well would it, I don't know, _help_ if I answered some your questions?" Katie made air quotes around questions.

"Yeah, yeah it would." Flipping over two boxes, Oliver sat down on one and patted the one next to it.

"Okay, shoot." She should have known better than to have agreed to this, but how harmful could it be?

"When did you start dating Bletchley?"

Apparently very. Katie started tugging nervously at her hair. Figuring that short and simple answers would suffice, she answered as truthfully as she could.

"Awhile ago..."

"How long is that?" Oliver would never understand why he asked questions he never wanted to know the answers to.

"I don't know, just awhile."

"So, what made you change your mind about him?"

Mentally kicking herself, Katie tried thinking of possible reasons. None of them seemed too plausible.

"It's complicated."

"Not this again. What does that even mean Kates?"

"I don't know! I thought-" She paused, trying to think of a good lie. "I thought I'd give him a chance."

"A chance?" Oliver's eyebrows knit in confusion.

She shrugged. "Yeah, I wanted to see what it was like to go out with someone."

"Well you saw what it was like with him." Oliver snapped off a piece of twig from a hanging branch. Twisting it around his fingers, he said, "He tried to get you to snog him. Sounds like a match made in Heaven."

"It's not permanent! I could dump him tomorrow if I wanted to."

"Do you?" He asked.

"Do I what?"

"Want to dump him?"

Katie was taken aback by the abruptness of his question. "It's none of your business."

"If you're not happy, you shouldn't be doing this." Oliver couldn't understand Katie. They used to be so in sync, knowing things about the other person that they were never even told. Now, everything up for chance. He hated not being in control of the situation.

"Thanks for the concern." Katie turned to face him. "But it's not needed."

He wasn't about to back down that easily. "I told you that you could tell me anything and that it would be important. Do you remember that?"

"Yes," she said softly.

"I'll keep reminding you Katie. I won't ever let you forget that."

Katie didn't know but that whole time her eyes had been watering. She quickly swept one away before it fell onto her cheek, but it didn't stop Oliver from noticing. He instantly put an arm around and pulled her in. Taking a deep breath, she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Thank you."


End file.
